Table 1.

Published Case Reports Relating Psychiatric Symptoms to Energy Drink Consumption

	Case details	Psychiatric history	Energy drink use	Presentation symptoms
Berigan31	25-year-old male	No prior diagnosis, no chronic medical issues, or family history of psychiatric problems	6–8 (8oz) cans daily for previous 4 months	Anxiety, restlessness, fidgetiness, irritability, difficulties concentrating, problems falling asleep
Cerimele et al.29	43-year-old male	Schizophrenia (Paranoid Type), and alcohol dependence (in full sustained remission)	Began use 8 weeks before hospitalization; use escalated to 8–10 (16oz) cans daily	Paranoia, religious delusions, agitation
Chelben et al.28	Case 1: 41-year-old female	Long history of psychiatric disorder; primarily Cluster B personality disorder with salient hysterical attributes, a tendency toward dramatization, impulsivity, and suicide attempts in response to relatively low-scale triggers	At least five a day (considerably more on some days) for 1 week; consumption stopped immediately before hospitalization due to running out of money	Severe psychomotor agitation, hypervigilance, verbal and physical aggression, impulsive behavior, low threshold for aggressive outbursts
	Case 2: 38-year-old female	Comorbid bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, and a long history of multiple substance abuse	5–10 energy drinks per day for 1 month	Moderate psychomotor agitation, increased alertness, insomnia impulsivity, self-mutilation ideation
	Case 3: 25-year-old male	Schizophrenia	8–9 cans of energy drink at a time for once month	Psychomotor unease, hypervigilance, verbal aggression, intensive preoccupation with thoughts of death
Machado-Vieira, et al.26	36-year-old white male	Bipolar I (DSM-IV)	1 week before episode drank three cans of Red Bull at night; 3 days later drank three more cans	Mania: euphoria, hyperactivity, insomnia, increased libido, irritability
Menkes30	27-year-old New Zealand Maori male	Schizophrenia; previously used alcohol and cannabis to excess; currently drank up to 10 cups of instant coffee per day	First incident: two Demon Shots an hour apart; Second incident: three Demon Shots in 15 min	First incident: unease, irritability, paranoia; Second incident: restlessness, withdrawal, argumentativeness, rapid pulse, insomnia
Rizkallah et al.27	Case 1: 40-year-old male	Bipolar Type I (DSM-IV), prior intranasal cocaine dependence	Up to six small cans a day for 1 week	Manic episode: elated mood, irritability, grandiosity
	Case 2: 30-year-old female	Bipolar Type II (DSM-IV), intranasal cocaine dependence	Several incidents of using up to eight small cans a day during previous month; this pattern occurred every day for 2 weeks before admission	Irritability, flight of ideas, reduced need for sleep, heightened sexually oriented activities
	Case 3: 36-year-old male	Bipolar Type I (DSM-IV), cannabis dependence and cocaine abuse	Up to nine small cans almost daily for 2 weeks	Sleep disturbance, increased daytime sleepiness, irritability, anxiety, and depression
Sharma32	32-year-old German male	No prior diagnoses, no psychiatric history (other than occasional mood swings). Family history of mental illness (postpartum depression and suicide)	Began drinking Red Bull 4 weeks before admission; one to two cans daily escalated to six to eight large (550 mL) cans daily during a week before hospitalization	Decreased sleep requirement, hyperactivity, pressured speech, racing thoughts, delusions of grandiosity and paranoia, risk-taking behavior, and lack of insight
Szpak and Allen33	28-year-old male professional boxer	No personal history of psychiatric problems, although one brother committed suicide, another died from a drug and alcohol overdose (unclear if intentional or not), and his father became an alcoholic	Drank 14 (250 mL) cans of energy drink in the day and evening (7 each consecutive day)	Acute suicidality following sleep deprivation