For all you coffee lovers out there, before you pour your next cup, consider the effects it may have on you. Caffeine stimulants are shown to potentially increase anxious emotional behavior. For those who are already diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, it poses an even greater risk.

If an anxiety disorder is caused by an imbalance of serotonin production or over-excitation of the amygdala or hypothalamus, it is possible the caffeine can make a person more anxious . It has been shown to increase the rate of anxious behavior in people diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), depression, panic disorder, and hostility to increase.

Coffee also has the potential to increase performance-related anxiety in people who lack an anxiety disorder. This is shown by the results from a study conducted by “Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental”, which also shows that the effect of caffeine on performance-related anxiety is more prevalent in males than in females.

However, stimulants like caffeine are shown to have an euphoric effect (i.e.: feeling like you are on cloud nine) in people who don’t have anxiety, and they increase alertness and sociability for people with disorders like ADHD or social anxiety disorder (SAD).

While these results are far from a death sentence, they do show that there’s possible detriments to regularly consuming caffeine. If you have an anxiety disorder, it might be worth thinking about the effect caffeine could have on your condition in the long run before you drink that next cup of joe.