Trouble coming? Young people drink dangerous caffeine mixtures to be “wide awake and drunk”

“I like it because I come after work to drink and I know I'm going to get tired soon. It wakes me up,” she says.

Aidan Razali, a 24-year-old media practitioner, observes that his peers and other young adults want to avoid getting drunk too quickly and embarrassing themselves in front of friends. They believe that mixing energy drinks with alcohol will help them stay in that sweet spot of the “high” feeling longer without passing out.

What's really scary about these stories goes beyond young adults working late into the night or chasing their next fix in a “wide awake, drunk” state. It's the disturbing fact that even in the face of potential health risks, they see no problem with their habit.

Rachel Wong, a nutritionist at the National University Hospital (NUH), says that mixing energy drinks with coffee increases the overall caffeine content. This increases the risk of caffeine overdose, which leads to symptoms such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, anxiety and nervousness.

When energy drinks are mixed with alcohol, the stimulant effect can mask the intoxication, potentially leading to more alcohol consumption and a higher risk of alcohol poisoning and related harms such as physical injury and impaired driving.

These combinations can also cause sleep disturbances and digestive problems such as nausea, stomach pain and dehydration due to the diuretic effects of caffeine, says Ms Wong.

Despite the warnings, Ms Qistina says: “I suppose we design students and now designers have so many deadlines and need to finish as quickly as possible that it is more acceptable to continue to consume such stimulants to stay awake.”

Ms Kaur adds: “I remember the can of the zero-calorie Monster energy drink that I used to mix with vodka had a warning on it: 'Do not mix with alcohol'. The caffeine content was so high that if I did that today I would probably get a massive hangover. But I was young then, so most of the time I thought it was OK.”