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Coffee drinkers are less likely to suffer from suicidal tendencies
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Experts from Great Britain reported that among coffee lovers there are practically no people with depressive and suicidal tendencies. According to some scientists, with the help of the aromatic and invigorating drink, many people can be saved from irreparable actions. During the study of statistical data on suicides in recent years, scientists from Harvard University became interested in a curious and hitherto unnoticed fact: among adult suicides there were no coffee lovers or even just coffee lovers.
For twenty years, British scientists studied this topic: more than 180,000 people were under observation. Every few years, the participants of the experiment filled out questionnaires with questions, among which were questions about their attitude to coffee. Between 1988 and 2008, 277 people out of 184,000 committed suicide.
As the questionnaires showed, none of the people who committed suicide preferred the coffee drink. Having analyzed the data, scientists were able to establish that substances contained in coffee can affect a person’s mood and reduce the likelihood of suicidal tendencies. Scientists believe that people who drink more than 400 ml of strong coffee daily are less likely to have suicidal thoughts.
The British journal Biological Psychiatry published information that coffee lovers commit suicide several times less often than those who abstain from drinking the aromatic drink.
Read also: Coffee may reduce risk of developing depression, scientists say
Nutritionists from Harvard have confirmed the assumptions of psychologists: in fact, coffee contains substances that can influence the perception of reality and a person's mood. The drink can be considered an effective means of helping a person get rid of depressive and suicidal thoughts.
Nutritionists from a British university believe that the reasons for the effect of coffee on a person's mood are due to the high content of caffeine and its special properties. Even in small doses, caffeine can have a stimulating and exciting effect on the human nervous system. Thus, coffee accelerates cardiac activity, increases the rate of formation of neurotransmitters, and can also act as a mild antidepressant.
Neurotransmitters, also called neuromediators or simply messengers, are active chemical substances that transmit electrical impulses between neurons and muscle tissue. Among the most famous neuromediators known to every person are adrenaline (a hormone whose secretion increases significantly in a stressful situation), serotonin (a hormone whose deficiency is accompanied by increased sensitivity) and dopamine (a hormone that causes increased heart rate). Each of the neuromediators is responsible for the state of the human nervous system, as well as for mood and mental state. Thus, people who drink large amounts of coffee ensure stable production of hormones needed by the body and the absence of suicidal tendencies.