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Drinking coffee makes you see ghosts
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damaralenoire



Joined: 19 Oct 2008
Posts: 334
Location: South Wales UK

PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:18 pm    Post subject: Drinking coffee makes you see ghosts Reply with quote

Something which some of you may find interesting to read



Taken from http://www.ukskeptics.com/cms/drinking-coffee-makes-you-see-ghosts/


Drinking coffee makes you see ghosts
Press Reports from January 18th, 2009

All over the media were reports of the finding that drinking coffee can lead to people seeing ghosts. Headlines such as:

* Three cups of brewed coffee a day ‘triples risk of hallucinations’;
* ‘Visions link’ to coffee intake; and the alarmist
* Danger from just 7 cups of coffee a day.

all had the same theme: that drinking coffee can lead to an increased risk of hallucination and therefore seeing ghosts or sensing dead people around you.

As is usually the case with the reporting of scientific publications, the story reported is often not actually what the research indicates and the headline writers usually extrapolate things so that they become sensationalist! That is certainly the case with this study.
What was the study about?


In what are called “Diathesis-stress models of psychosis”, it is proposed that stress plays a role in the development of hallucinatory or schizophrenia-like experiences, which are enhanced by the stress hormone cortisol.

Caffeine has been found to increase the amount of cortisol released in response to stress and so it was proposed that ingestion of caffeine (not necessarily from coffee) would be associated with an increased proneness to psychotic-type experiences.

Previous studies in this area have used participants who have psychoses; however, there is a problem that any medication that they were on could interfere with caffeine. So in this study, the researchers used a ‘normal’ population of participants as it’s known that schizophrenia-like (or schizotypal) experiences occur in non-psychotic people too (the most common occurrence familiar to most people probably being hearing a voice in your ear).

What the researchers were looking for was to see whether:

1. Caffeine intake was associated with stress levels;
2. Caffeine intake was associated with hallucinatory experiences and/or persecutory ideation.

Results


The results showed that caffeine consumption was not associated with persecutory ideation, but it was associated with stress and it was associated with hallucinatory experiences. The effect, the size of the association, was found to be small however.

Associations or correlations do not prove causation, and it may be that caffeine causes hallucinatory experiences in people but it may just be that people who have hallucinatory experiences consume more caffeine. Or, it could be something else altogether that causes people to have hallucinatory experiences and to consume more caffeine.
What can we conclude?


From a skeptics’ point of view, we may be faced with people claiming that ghosts can be seen as the result of drinking coffee and such like; but this was really a huge extrapolation of the study’s findings by the media headline writers and not a conclusion of the study - which, incidentally, had nothing to do with ghosts or the paranormal.

What we can say is that the study’s findings support the hypothesis that caffeine consumption may have a small effect on psychosis-like hallucinatory experiences in people who are prone to stress and such experiences in the first place. The effect of caffeine on these experiences, if true, is so small that it probably has little or no meaning outside of a clinical setting.

This was a small, preliminary piece of research that was relevant to its own field, but it’s not an answer to seeing ghosts, hearing voices and other, what we might come across as paranormal, experiences.

The problem here is not the actual research or the researchers, but the media’s interpretation of it.
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andyw



Joined: 13 Nov 2008
Posts: 215
Location: Caterham, Surrey

PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ha ha! That's funny
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YB
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Joined: 26 Nov 2006
Posts: 2167
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Never helped me see anything Cool
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Cliffraves



Joined: 29 Oct 2008
Posts: 192
Location: Middlesbrough uk

PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I drink lots coffee.
maybe im hullicinating!!!!!
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YB
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Joined: 26 Nov 2006
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Location: Pennsylvania, USA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Long time no see Cliff, where ya been hiding?
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Cliffraves



Joined: 29 Oct 2008
Posts: 192
Location: Middlesbrough uk

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

YB wrote:
Long time no see Cliff, where ya been hiding?


Hi YB i'm fine been fixing computer up my server system motherboard stopped working so been sorting another pc out
got more systems running now probably set me special cam up. see if it takes any pics.
been playing facebook games street racing and mafia wars lately and adding more mixes to site.
facebook user search Cliff Raves
welcome to add if have fb :)
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YB
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Joined: 26 Nov 2006
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Location: Pennsylvania, USA

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool, I need another guy in my facebook mafia, only have two, you interested??
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flossy
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Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 4921
Location: UK tyne/wear (geordie land)

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

whats everyones facebook addy, seems like everyone has it now
heres mine if anyone wants to add me Wink
marie kell
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Cliffraves



Joined: 29 Oct 2008
Posts: 192
Location: Middlesbrough uk

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Facebook allright welcome to add me
mines

Cliff Raves
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damaralenoire



Joined: 19 Oct 2008
Posts: 334
Location: South Wales UK

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mine is Pamela James-Blackwood
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Cliffraves



Joined: 29 Oct 2008
Posts: 192
Location: Middlesbrough uk

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

flossy wrote:
whats everyones facebook addy, seems like everyone has it now
heres mine if anyone wants to add me Wink
marie kell


what pic you got up on fb they that many come up as your name Wink when searching name
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Cliffraves



Joined: 29 Oct 2008
Posts: 192
Location: Middlesbrough uk

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

YB wrote:
Cool, I need another guy in my facebook mafia, only have two, you interested??

Whats your facebook name :)
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flossy
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Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 4921
Location: UK tyne/wear (geordie land)

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cliffraves wrote:
flossy wrote:
whats everyones facebook addy, seems like everyone has it now
heres mine if anyone wants to add me Wink
marie kell


what pic you got up on fb they that many come up as your name Wink when searching name


ive got the same one up as i have on here Wink
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flossy
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Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 4921
Location: UK tyne/wear (geordie land)

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ive found you pam, but i cant find you cliff Confused
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flossy
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Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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Location: UK tyne/wear (geordie land)

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i found you cliff Wink
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