There is an unspoken rule in our house that I do not have to fully listen to my daughter until I have had my caffeine injection. That's all I need - one big gulp of diet Pepsi, and I am a fully functioning parent.
But a normal parent can hear voices, right? Or maybe have a mirage - a clean toy room - pop up in front of their eyes? Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't heard "I want to go to bed early tonight, after I eat my green beans and take a quick bath" in your head over and over until your spouse told you wipe the stupid grin off of your face.
Now we can blame it on the real mother's little helper: caffeine.
A set of researchers in the United Kingdom have linked high intake of caffeine to hallucinations.
The study at Durham University determined a high caffeine user (classified as more than seven cups of coffee a day) was three times more likely to have heard a person
speak when there was nobody there. It was a small study, using just two hundred students, but the subjects reported seeing and hearing people who weren't there and sensing the presence of people who were dead (no mention of any resemblance to Bruce Willis).
If any of this worries you, have heart: researchers were quick to note that hallucinations are not indicative of mental illness!
So your kids could be driving your crazy . . . but maybe not literally.
Image: Piffe the Penguin (I see a cat in my coffee, please tell me I'm hallucinating again)
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