A group of psychologists at the University of Durham, in the United Kingdom, states that people who consume a daily amount of caffeine equivalent to seven cups of coffee are three times more likely to hear voices and suffer from hallucinations.
As scientists conclude, auditory hallucinations are more common than we think, and they are not necessarily due to mental illness. Specifically, it is estimated that about 3% of the population hears voices regularly when no one is really there. But the risk of this happening is higher for consumers of coffee, tea, and other caffeine-rich beverages. In addition, these substances make them more likely to see things that are not there, especially dead people . The researchers believe their findings could be due to the fact that coffee increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol .
"This is the first step towards observing broader factors related to hallucinations," says Simon Jones, head of the study.
