Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:632-635
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Anxiogenic effects of caffeine on panic and depressed patients
MA Lee, P Flegel, JF Greden and OG Cameron
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109.
Caffeine increases anxiety in people with anxiety disorders. To determine
whether caffeine exerts a similar effect in depression, the authors
compared retrospective reports of caffeine intake and symptoms produced by
caffeine ingestion in patients with panic disorder, patients with major
depression, and control subjects. Panic patients consumed less caffeine and
reported more symptoms than depressed or control subjects. Although
depressed patients did not differ from control subjects in caffeine intake
or most symptoms, more depressed patients reported that caffeine induced
anxiety. These data support prior reports that panic patients have
increased sensitivity to caffeine; some depressed patients may also have
increased sensitivity.
