Although some patients may expect little difficulty giving up caffeine, it is clear that the simple recommendation to cease caffeine use will not suffice for all patients. It is quite feasible that many have never tried to give up caffeine and thus have no direct experience to call upon when making assessments about their ability to refrain. There have been no systematic studies on the most effective ways to treat problematic caffeine use or caffeine dependence. Education and history-taking are important components of treatment, given that many individuals may not be knowledgeable about caffeine sources in their diets. Evidence suggests that withdrawal symptoms may thwart quit attempts, but no data pertaining to the probability of relapse are currently available.
Caffeine is ingested in behaviorally active doses by hundreds of millions of people each day.
Compared to other classic drugs of dependence, it poses relatively minor medical or psychological risks to the majority of its users, has subtle psychological effects and presents no serious threats to society. Therefore, there may be no compelling reason to cease caffeine use for many who enjoy the effects of caffeine and the products that contain the drug. It is important, however, to recognize that caffeine does lead to physical dependence as evidenced by withdrawal symptoms ranging from inconvenient to incapacitating in severity. Moreover, under conditions that are not yet understood, caffeine is capable of producing a DSM-IV substance dependence syndrome. The practitioner should remain cognizant of the psychiatric importance of this widely used drug and be prepared to recognize, diagnose and treat caffeine-related problems.