Caffeine: The New Antidepressant?

There's a supposed antidepressant getting attention lately, and it isn't new at all. People have been drinking it for centuries, and few things come more naturally. It's coffee. That mug sitting next to you right now might as well be a dose of something. Research has linked the antioxidants in a daily cup to immune support against a range of conditions, with names like Parkinson's, prostate cancer, and diabetes coming up in the studies. Still, the real reason it tops the list of most-consumed drinks in the U.S. and across the globe has to do with how it makes you feel.

Stress wears the body down more than almost anything. Combined with anxiety, it drains serotonin, and when serotonin drops, so does your mood. Work these days asks a lot, and plenty of people walk around in a state of low-grade exhaustion because of it. That's part of why the office coffee pot gets going before anything else does. Coffee is a stimulant, so it gives you that lift, and caffeine nudges dopamine, the chemical tied to pleasure and reward. Feeling stimulated usually means you've got more energy on hand and more dopamine available to the brain. Put that energy toward something useful and you can clear more off your plate and keep pace with what the job demands.

So the old line about everything being fine in moderation holds some water. The trouble is defining moderation and spotting the point where you've gone past it. Most people land around two or three cups a day. The heavier drinkers, the ones who really love the stuff, go through four to six.

Thinking of coffee as a mild natural remedy, even a mood steadier for low spirits and nerves, is tempting. But good things stop being good past a certain amount. Overdo the coffee, or any caffeinated drink, and you get jittery and on edge; have it too late and you'll stare at the ceiling half the night. If you find yourself drinking cup after cup just to feel normal, that could be a sign you're medicating something larger, and a conversation with your doctor is in order. Health is health: keep the physician in the loop. Should you be on prescriptions and feel the coffee does more for you than the pills, do not quit the medication on your own first talk it through with the person who prescribed it.

Coffee can take the edge off mild depression and anxiety, but it won't do much against major depression. The same caution applies to more serious conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Those involve elevated dopamine already, so loading up on caffeine can actually be risky.

If you're dealing with major depression or something heavier, you'd have to sip coffee all day long to hold your energy anywhere near steady. That's well past moderation and points to a system out of balance. Chronic, severe conditions generally call for daily medication taken as a doctor prescribes it. Digestive issues change the math too. Anyone with gastrointestinal reflux disease, often called acid reflux or GERD, may not tolerate much caffeine, and GERD frequently shows up alongside anxiety and depression. Many physical complaints trace back to something psychological, either as a cause or an effect, at least once you take the mind-body link seriously. Tea, big in England, raises the same considerations.

If the bitterness of plain coffee puts you off, there are flavored creamers in every variety now; hazelnut and French vanilla lead the pack. And since all things in moderation apply, a splash of Jack Daniels for a holiday nip isn't out of the question, though I wouldn't suggest hard liquor during the workday. Soda, by contrast, carries far more sugar than coffee or tea, and too much of it will strip the enamel off your teeth and land you in dentures ahead of schedule.

Next time you need a lift and it isn't a standing, every-single-day thing, go make yourself a cup. For some people even daily is too much. This is not something to push. Regular caffeine will amplify chronic stress, anger, and anxiety, so don't pour it down all day because you read somewhere that it has possible medicinal perks. Daily use can bring on acid reflux and even deepen certain depressive symptoms. Talk to your doctor if you think caffeine might fit as a small, occasional part of your routine, and keep an eye on your stress and anxiety. When those are climbing, skip the caffeinated coffee and tea. Erwin Bishop