Caffeine Withdrawal Could Brew a Mental Disorder

For those of us who just can't make it through the day without five cups of coffee, new research suggests that caffeine intoxication and withdrawal could be seen as a mental disorder.

According to a new edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders, which came out last week, excessive caffeine intake can lead to "caffeine intoxication."

This would be when someone is consuming more than 250 mg of caffeine, or the equivalent of 2-3 cups of brewed coffee, and experiences five or more of the following symptoms, according to Time: restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, diuresis (having to pee a lot), gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, rambling flow of thought and speech, tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia, periods of inexhaustibility or psychomotor agitation.

However, what happens when you take that caffeine away? The DSM-5 includes symptoms for caffeine withdrawal like fatigue, headache and difficulty focusing.

Alan Budney, who worked to help group substance-use disorders in the DSM-5 group, explained his rational for including caffeine withdrawal via Medscape Medical News in 2011.

"Caffeine is invading our society more and more. So there's concern enough to consider this topic seriously, even though it's probably one of the more controversial issues faced by our work group," said Budney, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.