When people imbibe drinks with caffeine and alcohol at the same time they can develop an over-inflated impression of their capabilities and are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior.
“You should never mix uppers and downers,” says Lyndon Withdrawal Unit addiction medicine physician Rod MacQueen from Australia. “People overestimate their sobriety because they feel wide awake.”
Add to this the fact that the effects of alcohol wear off quicker than the effects of caffeine, so when you wake up in the morning you feel twice as “stoned.” Nicotine may help you with that one way - but obviously it has its downside too.
Mixing caffeine and alcohol can also create a cycle of drinking and violent behavior. Caffeine could cause anxiety in some people, so they would have another drink, then another, to try and calm the nerves, while exacerbating the anxiety.
Now that is a definite downer, no matter how “high” you feel, isn’t it?