---
title: "Caffeine and Mental Health: A Research Review"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/664dbe1e-d3d8-4997-9856-938031daadfb
source_url: "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20164571/"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/education/stack/ed5a3ae2-37d9-4b9f-acfb-16fc78c07ec8
summary: "Caffeine and Mental Health: A Research Review examines caffeine's pharmacological effects on mental health across psychiatric and non-psychiatric populations. Moderate caffeine intake shows benefits for alertness and mood while high doses may induce anxiety and psychotic symptoms, with effects influenced by A2A receptor polymorphism."
tags: "caffeine, mental-health, psychiatric-disorders, cognitive-function, anxiety, depression"
key_entities: "caffeine (concept), mental-health (concept), psychiatric-disorders (concept), depression (concept), anxiety (concept), ADHD (concept), obsessive-compulsive-disorder (concept), A2A-receptor-polymorphism (concept), panic-disorder (concept), PubMed (organization)"
classification: "analysis"
content_hash: "sha256:87db91e47a17e237fa8ffbbe1189b35946a1c9ab2fe9545f987309d364b6bd88"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 813
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# Caffeine and Mental Health: A Research Review

Full text links Cite Display options Display options Format Abstract PubMed PMID Linked Discoveries Abstract Caffeine intake is so common that its pharmacological effects on the mind are undervalued. Since it is so readily available, individuals can adjust their own dose, time of administration and dose intervals of caffeine, according to the perceived benefits and side effects of each dose. This review focuses on human studies of caffeine in subjects with and without psychiatric disorders. Besides the possibility of mild drug dependence, caffeine may bring benefits that contribute to its widespread use. These benefits seem to be related to adaptation of mental energy to the context by increasing alertness, attention, and cognitive function (more evident in longer or more difficult tasks or situations of low arousal) and by elevating mood. Accordingly, moderate caffeine intake (< 6 cups/day) has been associated with less depressive symptoms, fewer cognitive failures, and lower risk of suicide. However, its putative therapeutic effects on depression and ADHD have been insufficiently studied. Conversely, in rare cases high doses of caffeine can induce psychotic and manic symptoms, and more commonly, anxiety. Patients with panic disorder and performance social anxiety disorder seem to be particularly sensitive to the anxiogenic effects of caffeine, whereas preliminary data suggests that it may be effective for some patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The threshold for the anxiogenic effect of caffeine is influenced by a polymorphism of the A2A receptor. In summary, caffeine can be regarded as a pharmacological tool to increase energy and effortful behavior in daily activities. More populational (cross-sectional and prospective) and experimental studies are necessary to establish the role of caffeine intake in psychiatric disorders, especially its putative efficacy on depressive mood and cognitive/attentional disorders. PubMed Disclaimer Publication types Review Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search MeSH terms Caffeine / therapeutic use* Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Central Nervous System Stimulants / therapeutic use* Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Humans Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Mental Disorders / drug therapy* Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Mental Disorders / genetics Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Mental Health* Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Mental Processes / drug effects* Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Polymorphism, Genetic / genetics Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Receptor, Adenosine A2A / genetics Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Substances Central Nervous System Stimulants Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Receptor, Adenosine A2A Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search Caffeine Actions Search in PubMed Search in MeSH Add to Search LinkOut - more resources Full Text Sources Atypon Medical MedlinePlus Health Information Molecular Biology Databases The Weizmann Institute of Science GeneCards and MalaCards databases