You can do longitudonal studies but it’s very hard. You can also withdrawal caffeine and see if people get better. It is irresponsible to make sweeping policy changes on correlations alone. Consider, basically everyone with schizophrenia smokes, smoking doesn’t cause schizophrenia. People are solving some problem, even if not in the best way. Withdrawing the drug without offering some other treatment is likely counterproductive.
If people felt shit and didn’t sleep much or slept too much (both defining symptoms of depression) I would absolutely expect them to reach for a stimulant to help them. I would not also necessarily expect removing the stimulant to help.
Also kids with unmedicated adhd often overuse the shit out of caffeine because they can’t function otherwise. Undiagnosed adhd is significant cause of depression and anxiety.
You can do longitudonal studies but it’s very hard. You can also withdrawal caffeine and see if people get better. It is irresponsible to make sweeping policy changes on correlations alone. Consider, basically everyone with schizophrenia smokes, smoking doesn’t cause schizophrenia. People are solving some problem, even if not in the best way. Withdrawing the drug without offering some other treatment is likely counterproductive.
If people felt shit and didn’t sleep much or slept too much (both defining symptoms of depression) I would absolutely expect them to reach for a stimulant to help them. I would not also necessarily expect removing the stimulant to help.
Also kids with unmedicated adhd often overuse the shit out of caffeine because they can’t function otherwise. Undiagnosed adhd is significant cause of depression and anxiety.