How Too Much Caffeine Raises the Dead

People who consume the equivalent of seven or more cups of coffee a day are not just more jittery, they are three times more likely to experience auditory and visual hallucinations, such as hearing voices and sensing the presence of the deceased.

In this study from Durham University in England published in Personality and Individual Differences, 200 students were asked about their usual intake of caffeine via coffee, tea, energy drinks, chocolate bars, and caffeine tablets. For some participants, high caffeine intake was linked to higher stress levels and an increased tendency to hallucinate.

Simon Jones, lead author and Ph.D. student at Durham University’s psychology department, says these findings help scientists better understand how food and nutrition affect hallucinatory experiences and show that biology, stress, and childhood trauma may not be the only triggers.