Introduction
The article to be discussed is “Caffeine and anxiety-like behavior” by Ribeiro-Carvalho, Dutra-Tavares, Filgueiras, Manhães, and Abreu-Villaça. Although caffeine is not always thought of as a psychoactive drug, it strongly impacts the brain and behavior. As a stimulant, caffeine increases the nervous system’s activity and enhances the circulation of chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol. In some other instances, it makes people feel focused and refreshed. Ribeiro-Carvalho et al. (2022) acknowledge that caffeine has been linked to numerous positive and adverse impacts on mood. The authors describe the effects of the consumption of caffeine on anxiety-associated behaviors. However, these impacts depend on factors such as mental health status, tolerance, age, sex, and genetic polymorphism.
Discussion
Children and adolescents’ caffeine consumption increases anxiety and less overall activity. There is a relationship between anxiety and caffeine consumption occurring in adolescence. According to Murphy (2022), the consumption of beverages with caffeine is associated with an increased risk of anxiety. These effects cause some people’s behaviors to change. Physical activities keep bodies strong and can improve mental health by limiting pain and loneliness and decreasing symptoms of depression. At the same time, physical activity enhances focus and improves sleep. It is important to note that caffeine can shape the behavior of individuals, including an urge to be ambitious, active, cautious, and creative. This is because it increases alertness by interfering with some chemical process in the nervous system that makes us alert. However, caffeine makes individuals feel tired once the body completely metabolizes it. Caffeine improves mental performance on several tasks, such as information processing and response time. Some claim their perceptions of how and when to do their chores or tasks change. Others indicate that caffeine influences their perceptions and behaviors if taken on a long-term basis. In rare cases, people think consuming caffeine adversely affects their performance.
In addition, caffeine increases the level of anxiety because it stimulates the nervous system’s “flight or fight” response. In some extreme cases, it even triggers an anxiety attack. These panic attacks make the caffeine consumer feels shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and chest pains. If these incidences recur, they may lead to people worrying about them and avoiding situations resulting in their occurrence. Remarkably, behavior can be affected by an anxiety attack. This limits the ability to work, causes strained social relationships with members of the family and friends, and makes individuals feel isolated. Moreover, panic disorders change people’s behaviors and trigger problems in daily activities. Healthcare professionals hold that, at regulated doses, caffeine consumption has a positive effect on mood. According to Ribeiro-Carvalho et al. (2022), caffeine impacts neurotransmitters that influence the role of mental performance and attitude by having benzodiazepine and adenosine neurotransmitters that slow down brain activity. Notably, modulating neurotransmitters in the brain result in neurobehavioral effects.
Overcoming mental disorders is advantageous when it comes to behavioral changes because extreme mental health or mood changes affect behavior. Mental health includes psychological, emotional, and social well-being. It can be promoted by all means, including a moderately potential stimulant such as caffeine, improving attention, cognitive function, and psychomotor performance. Outstandingly, caffeine as a central stimulant enhances psychomotor functioning during physical and mental fatigue through effects that facilitate vigilance in people of young age (Zhang et al., 2020). Caffeine can also boost concentration for individuals with ADHD because it mimics the impacts of more potent stimulants that treat the disorder. However, it should be emphasized that caffeine alone is less effective than some medications.
Furthermore, caffeine increases feelings of confidence and optimism. The component is the first thing that comes to people’s minds when having a cup of coffee. As an active ingredient, caffeine increases alertness by activating some brain areas and stimulating the nervous system to dispel boredom and weariness. Since it facilitates alertness, caffeine improves thinking and boasts memory skills. Most people who settle down to a cup of coffee exhibit positive traits or behaviors such as helpfulness. Since caffeine puts bodies into a hyper-aroused state, emotions overrun one’s behavior. Anxiety and irritability are immediate emotional impacts of caffeine, which lets emotions take charge. Mood improvement is significantly influenced by baseline arousal. Less-fatigued subjects experience lower subjective mood changes than highly-fatigued subjects. Caffeinated coffee and other beverages increase cooperative behavior. This suggests that it relieves depressive symptoms and improves social support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, caffeine has both positive and negative effects that result in some behavioral changes. The positive impacts, as illustrated in this paper, are several. However, it should be acknowledged that caffeine causes nervousness, agitation, and sleeplessness. These are symptoms that negatively affect mood. At the same time, caffeine gradually reduces anxiety when consumed at low doses, resulting in a more considerable improvement in desirable behavioral performance. It is important for those accustomed to regularly consuming caffeine to note that if they abruptly stop, they may experience various symptoms. These include headaches, depressed mood, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, and difficulty concentrating as immediate withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, consumers should consider medical suggestions on how to cut back gradually, including staying hydrated and exercising regularly.
References
Murphy, S. (2022). Subsequent behavioural effects of simultaneous adolescent exposure to caffeine and nicotine. Web.
Ribeiro-Carvalho, A., Dutra-Tavares, A. C., Filgueiras, C. C., Manhães, A. C., & Abreu-Villaça, Y. (2022). Caffeine and anxiety-like behavior. In Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions: From Biology to Public Health (pp. 1-18). Cham: Springer International Publishing. Web.
Zhang, H., Lee, Z. X., & Qiu, A. (2020). Caffeine intake and cognitive functions in children. Psychopharmacology, 237(10), 3109-3116. Web.