Caffeine And Anxiety Essay

Thesis: Caffeine can have many different effects on the body depending on the amount of consumption.

An independent samples t-test was conducted to examine the difference between experimental conditions on test performance. The results indicated a significant difference between participants who consumed the caffeinated beverage and participants who did not, with participants in the caffeinated group (M = 7.64, SD = 2.41) performing worse than participants in the non-caffeinated group (M = 9.81, SD = 3.16), t (97) = 2.14, p < .05.

In the fast paced life of a college student, it is not uncommon for tasks and due dates to quickly pile up, demanding more hours studying and less hours sleeping. Any amount of sleep deprivation can lead students to consume caffeinated beverages, particularly coffee, to help them stay awake and get their work done. According to the University of Michigan (2015), Caffeine acts in the body by effecting the central nervous system and may start to

Caffeine is a psychoactive drug and potentially deadly in large amounts, especially for adolescents (Hershorin, Lipschulz, Schaechter & Seifert, 2011). Caffeine is one the most common energy drink ingredients and one of the most widely consumed substances in the world. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), caffeine is a chemical stimulant compound found in various plants that acts as a central nervous system stimulant. Caffeine is produced naturally and artificially. Caffeine is found mainly in coffee, tea, soda, chocolate, energy drinks and some over-the-counter medications. Due to the increasing demands placed on teenagers today, caffeine is becoming more prevalent in adolescents. While the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children have no more than 100 mg of caffeine a day due to unknown medical conditions, the fact a teenager’s brain is still in a developmental stage, and the importance sleep plays in the developing brain. Table 1, shows the amount of caffeine for the energy drinks in this report. (Note-this does not include the caffeine from blend ingredients)

Michele L. Pettit, MPH, Ph.D., reports that, “Participants with higher levels of perceived stress also revealed higher averages for days per week during the past 30 days on which energy drinks were consumed. Lastly, participants characterized by higher levels of perceived stress reported larger numbers of energy drinks consumed on any occasion during the past 30 days.” (Pettit 5). Energy drinks, drinks with a high caffeine level, is consume by many teenagers to improve their critical thinking or physical performance. There is no age limit to this supplement, so teens can get this drink any time without precaution. There is an interrelationship between caffeine and stress: because teens want to feel more alert, focus into school work, and activities, they would more likely to consume this popular drink, after the effect of caffeine reduce, teens would want to continue to consume more of this drink to maintain the same level of alertness. When it’s close to final projects or exams, this situation would repeat as long as teens are drawn into this drink, create more stress, lack of sleep, cannot concentrate, and poor grade. It can also affect their critical thinking, and decision making, because the side effects of this drink, which can lead to suicidal thoughts if the stress level is not

Symptoms that follow caffeine consumption are: anxiety, panic attacks, increased heart palpitations, trembling, stress, heartburn, and the deprivation of sleep (Driedger, Doyle par 2). Over time these symptoms can become more severe and eventually will become a major disturbance in one’s life. The anxiety that comes from this can be especially harmful to those who suffer from anxiety disorders, such as GAD-General Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder as the caffeine can stimulate a panic attack (Human par 3). The most apparent concern of caffeine consumption, is its effects on teen life. Dr. Jim Lane, a researcher at Duke University stated, “Teens are chronically sleep deprived. Caffeine use might be a consequence of that, and also a cause. Drinking coffee could lead to sleep-onset insomnia, or a delay in going to bed, that contributes to sleep deprivation” (Teens par 7). This shows that as the caffeine trend among teens continue, the link to teen sleep deprivation strengthens. Not only does it prevent the continuation of sleep, but also the process of even falling asleep is delayed. The more deprived of sleep these

Shanahan and Hughes hypothesized that ingesting high amounts of caffeine would increase state anxiety and the effects of performance induced stress. Nineteen men and twenty-seven women were randomly assigned into one of four groups. Prior to ingesting the experiment, participants were assessed for state and trait anxiety using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Afterwards, two of the groups were administered highly caffeinated coffee, while the other two were given decaffeinated coffee. The participants were told to drink no caffeinated beverages or ingest any chocolate the morning of the study, as not to alter results. Next, one of the groups in each condition was assigned to complete a high stress activity. The high stress groups had twenty-five minutes to complete a difficult reasoning test, which normally takes thirty-five minutes to complete. To further heighten stress, the participants were told that the test could be easily completed in the allotted time and that another group member would check their answers afterwards. One of the groups in each condition was also assignment to a low stress activity, which was a personality test. These groups were told that there were no wrong answers and that their responses would be anonymous. After completing their respective activities, participants were once again tested for their state anxiety (Shanahan & Hughes, 1986).

Caffeine use has been correlated with people who have a tendency toward addiction such as smoking as well as ingesting more alcohol. The study challenged previous research that believed caffeine users were different than non-users. They used

The active chemical in coffee is caffeine, and too people coffee is used to increase the heart rate or give people an increase in energy. The effect coffee has on people varies between people, the affect one cup of coffee may have on one person wouldn’t be enough to have an effect on another person.

Thesis: Caffeine is something that almost everyone has consumed and some people are even addicted to. Caffeine has negative and positive effects on one’s health

Caffeine can have negative effects on anxiety disorders. A number of clinical studies have shown a positive association between caffeine and anxiogenic effects and/or panic disorder. At high doses, typically greater than 300 mg, caffeine can both cause and worsen anxiety or, rarely, trigger mania or psychosis. Caffeine does not

One on the beneficial effects on caffeine, two the negative effects, and finally on trends in caffeine consumption

Caffeine has many negative effects on humans, such as increased heart rate (Lane, J.D., 2002), depression (Goldstein, 2008), and addiction to this “drug.” You may be asking yourself, “What is caffeine?” Well, caffeine is actually a stimulant (Barone, Roberts, 2008) that is found in beverages such as tea, coffee, and soft drinks. In fact, caffeine is the highest grossing and most used stimulant in the United States (Barone, Roberts, 2008). It is estimated that 85% of adults living in the United States consume caffeine on a daily basis (Barone, Roberts, 2008). That means for every 100 adults, 85 of them have had a drink that contained caffeine on any given day. One reason caffeine is so widely available compared to other stimulants is

The use of caffeine is worldwide, contained in a range of foods, beverages and medicines with it being one of the most frequently consumed ingredients worldwide (Heckman, Weil, Mejia, & Gonzalez, 2010). Extensive research has been conducted into caffeine and its effects on our cognitive functioning and development, with many studies concluding that due to its beneficial effects surrounding enhanced performance and awareness, caffeine is a safe and valuable enhancement to our daily lives (Mejia & Ramirez-Mares 2014, Zwyghuizen-Doorenbos, Roehrs, Lipschutz, Timms & Roth, 1990).

Just like how modern technology has been embedded into lives of students, caffeine has become a necessity in student’s daily life as well. The workload of a college student can be overwhelming and it drives students to rely on caffeine. When they rely on caffeine for their body to function, they overlook an important aspect of their health conditions which is the absence of sleep. Students can be at risk for consuming too much caffeine especially when now a days, students lose track of their daily intake. Although there are beneficial aspect of caffeine that offer students to be at their optimal performance in their daily task.