Shifty eyes slide left to right, heart pulsating, lubb dubb echoes through my mind and screams to my ears. It’s coming after me, or perhaps, that’s just my anxiety. The thudding in my chest . . . I can’t seem to swallow; my heart grows louder, knocking on my chest as if it wants to escape. I'm awake yet malfunctioning as I progress through the day. And to think, I’m only on my sixth cup of coffee.

Ever have a moment relatable to this, where you’ve had some source of caffeine hoping that it’ll keep you energized on that all-night shift, but because you love to drink that Venti Carmel Ribbon Crunch every morning with your scones, it’s not really all that effective suddenly? Well, that’s because of substance abuse. Many don’t realize the dangers of abusing caffeine or how easy it is to abuse the substance because it's in a various amount of things we eat or drink.

By definition, caffeine is a stimulant to the central nervous system, meaning this is a substance that can alter your mind. Of course not in the sense that after a cup of coffee one will begin to hallucinate, however, this is possible if one abuses the recommended intake of caffeine. According to researchers, the safe amount of caffeine is 250 mg or less; anything over this can have serious side effects such as: confusion, hallucinations, headache, fatigue, irritability, depressed mood, and difficulty concentrating.

Also, it’s extremely important to make sure you watch what you eat or drink. Ever notice after drinking a cup of coffee or tea you may seem a bit more energized than usual? Well, that’s because there are traces of caffeine. And believe it or not, even chocolate has traces of caffeine found in it. Many misuse coffee or tea out of the stress of attempting to stay awake and overuse it in drinks like Starbucks, in which they drink double the suggested amount. The safest way to consume caffeine is probably by taking the recommended daily dosage of 250 mg or less, and even then, it’s best not to take it every day because you may become dependent. In this case, you may have caffeine withdrawals, where headaches occur, fatigue may occur and dizziness.

Moral of the story is although work, school, life may be difficult, it may be best to slowly cease usage and instead perhaps trying to manage time more effectively and schedule time to sleep.