If you are the type of person who can’t function in the morning without your daily fix of nicotine washed down with a strong cup coffee, you might be wondering if your drugs of choice have the potential to cause psychosis in the long term.
Indeed, without your daily fix of nicotine and caffeine, you might well become psychotic! But can coffee and cigarettes cause a delirium, or is this just an urban myth perpetuated by clean living types who consider caffeine and cigarettes poison?
Can Coffee and Cigarettes Actually Cause a Delirium?
Under normal circumstances, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes is unlikely cause a delirium, although in large doses, neither substance can exactly be considered good for you.
But if tobacco is contaminated with another drug (as sometimes happens), smoking a cigarette can cause hallucinations, delirium and all kinds of dangerous side effects.
Liquid PCP, also known as “angel dust”, is sometimes sprayed on to tobacco or marijuana and smoked, which produces a number of psychological and physiological symptoms ranging from hallucinations, psychosis, aggression, confusion, impaired thinking, agitation and unpredictability.
Powdered LSD can also be sprinkled into tobacco to achieve much the same effect and overdoses of LSD smoked in cigarettes can also cause delirium and psychosis.
And What if Cigarettes and Coffee are Taken in Large Amounts?
Caffeine is a very toxic chemical when taken in large amounts and it is possible to overdose on caffeine. Like most things, taken in moderation caffeine will not cause you any problems and as long as you restrict your caffeine intake, you should be fine.
But if you regularly consume high amounts of caffeine, whether via coffee, green tea, or caffeinated energy drinks, you should be aware of the risks of caffeine poisoning.
Caffeine affects the central nervous system and causes an increase in levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine. The symptoms of a caffeine overdose include agitation, restlessness, nausea and vomiting, confusion, delirium, anxiety, heart palpitations, and hypertension.
If a person regularly consumes too much caffeine, levels of toxicity build up in the brain and more serious psychological problems can develop, including the symptoms of dementia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Taking into consideration the limits one should impose to oneself in caffeine consumption, studies have shown that coffee has been linked to increased productivity. Fun fact: Coffee has been found to be more effective as a booster than nootropic supplements that were advertised as brain hacking pills that boost concentration. So if you’re looking for a healthy dose of stimulation, a cup of coffee will work wonders compared to such alternatives.
Can Coffee and Cigarettes Cause a Delirium if Taken Regularly?
Both cigarettes and caffeine should be recognized as the powerful drugs they are, even though both are considered socially acceptable in modern society. As such, it is very important to be aware of the potentially harmful side effects of consuming too much of one or both.
There is a Film called “Coffee and Cigarettes”, What is it About?
As well as being the drugs of choice for many people, “Coffee and Cigarettes” is also the title of an art house film, directed by Jim Jarmusch in 2004.
Styled as a series of loosely connected vignettes, the film features various well known actors and celebrities discussing coffee and cigarettes in some low key non-dramatic scenes.
One of the most notable scenes from the film shows two famous rap stars sitting in a restaurant and discussing whether coffee cigarettes can cause a delirium.
Kenneth Sandale says
The author writes that in high doses coffee and cigarettes are harmful. In reality, even in very small doses cigarettes are harmful. Was this article written in the 1940s???