Anxiogenic effects of caffeine on panic and depressed patients.

Caffeine increases anxiety in people with anxiety disorders. To determine whether caffeine exerts a similar effect in depression, the authors compared retrospective reports of caffeine intake and symptoms produced by caffeine ingestion in patients with panic disorder, patients with major depression, and control subjects. Panic patients consumed less caffeine and reported more symptoms than depressed or control subjects. Although depressed patients did not differ from control subjects in caffeine intake or most symptoms, more depressed patients reported that caffeine induced anxiety. These data support prior reports that panic patients have increased sensitivity to caffeine; some depressed patients may also have increased sensitivity.