This just in… Caffeine Withdrawal Is Now a Mental Disorder. So if i haven’t had my coffee in the morning I am now to be completely excused for anything I say, do, or yell right?
Well no… not really. You see the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Version 5 was recently released. and the classifications and definitions for lots of things have been updated to reflect the current level of understanding. Excessive use of caffeine can lead to caffeine intoxication, which is bad, and that can lead to caffeine withdrawal, which is worse. Here is the rundown.
If you have had more than 250 mg of caffeine (roughly 3 – 4 cups of normal sized coffee, or 5 shots of espresso) AND you experience five or more of the following symptoms… THEN you officially have Caffeine withdrawal…
Symptoms include:
- restlessness
- nervousness
- excitement
- insomnia
- flushed face
- diuresis (having to pee a lot… always wanted to know the term for that)
- gastrointestinal disturbance
- muscle twitching
- rambling flow of thought and speech
- tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia
- periods of inexhaustibility
- psychomotor agitation (unintentional motion, say, rapidly bouncing one leg)
Hey now we have a fun little chart to hit up to see just how much coffee is affecting us. I guess that means we win a prize if you get a high score on the checklist right?
You know what… If I haven’t had coffee in a while and I’m supposed to hit up a checklist to find out if I’m regular miserable, tired or certifiably miserable… we have bigger issues. But you know… The more you know!
Beyond all the nonsense however is a very serious condition. People are finding caffeine in all sorts of forms lately and the easier it is to drink / eat caffeine the easier it is to over-indulge. So take care of yourselves people!
