Should a slip in the daily routine prevent you from quaffing your "cup of ambition," you probably don't need a caffeine researcher to tell you what will happen next—you will start to feel sick.
So sick, in fact, that caffeine withdrawal merits inclusion in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, the official roster of psychiatric maladies, according to a review of 170 years of research.
What's next on the list: "bad seafood syndrome" or "chocolate fever"? Roland Griffiths, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the study's lead researcher, says the proposal is no joke. While some have argued that psychiatry pathologizes normal human predicaments, he believes caffeine withdrawal's inclusion in the DSM will help physicians and psychologists be sensitive to its sometimes debilitating symptoms. Java addicts and Diet Coke fiends may suffer more than the usual headache and fatigue, he insists. Depression, irritability or even flu-like nausea and muscle pain can result when users are denied their fix, even if they normally sip just one cup per day.
