The father of a man who took his own life after an ‘addiction’ to energy drinks says that drinking 15 cans a day worsened his depression and turned him into a ‘zombie’.
Justin Bartholomew, 25, from Newhaven, East Sussex, died in 2017 after consuming vast quantities of high-caffeine and sugary drinks, which he turned to as a coping mechanism after the brakdown of his marriage in 2016.
Calling for energy drinks to be banned, his father Keiron told The Sun that ‘it was as powerful an addiction as crack for him’.
Justin was trapped in a vicious cycle of having sleepless nights and feeling he needed energy drinks to function, ruining his ‘normal coping mechanisms’.
It comes amid renewed calls for a ban on the sale of energy drinks to children under 16, after a report in BMJ Open found that young people who consume the drinks on five or more days a week are likely to have low psychological, physical, educational and overall well-being.
Justin Bartholomew (left), from Newhaven, East Sussex, died in 2017 after consuming vast quantities of high-caffeine and sugary drinks – something which his father Keiron (right) believes played a huge role in his death
One can of an energy drink can contain as much as 160mg of caffeine, more than a double espresso and as many as 14 teaspoons of sugar.
His addiction, combined with depression, is what Keiron believes led to Justin’s suicide in August 2017.
Justin slipped into a heavy depression after splitting from his wife. The pair were married for three months and following the break-up, he tried several times to take his own life.
Energy drinks combined with depression is what Keiron believes led to Justin’s suicide in August 2017
In the months following the split Justin’s energy drink consumption skyrocketed, with the scaffolder bringing carrier bags full of cheap energy drinks into work with him.
‘He was coming to work with a can of energy drink – cheap ones for about 35p a can’, Keiron told The Mirror in 2018.
‘To get value for money, he’d come in with bag-fulls of these drinks. It accelerated very quickly into addiction.
‘His brother Daniel would look in the back of the van and see piles and piles of empty energy drink cans.
‘We’d clear them out and the next day there would be more again.’
His father told Justin he had to try to wean himself off the drinks, but his son said he just couldn’t stop, and it was as difficult as giving up smoking.
‘He just said, “Dad, I can’t stop drinking them, I’ve tried. I can’t just stop. It’s like trying to stop smoking, I just can’t”.
At one point during his addiction Justin visited his GP, where he was told he had a heart rate equivalent to an 80-year-old man.
Justin self-medicated on energy drinks in the day, followed by alcohol at night, as part of a ‘vicious cycle’ which ‘spiralled out of control’.
‘Over three months he went from the normal Justin that I knew and loved, to heavily depressed,’ said Keiron.
After the breakdown of his son’s marriage in 2016, Justin reportedly became depressed and turned to energy drinks and alcohol as a coping mechanism
‘Depression is a dangerous thing, combined with energy drinks it was a lethal combination.’
Keiron was due to marry his partner in Scotland when he received news of his son’s death in August 2018.
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Mr Bartholomew was due to marry his partner in Scotland when he received news of his son’s death.
He said: ‘It was the worst day of my life. He had his whole life in front of him’.
‘Justin was screaming out for help – and we couldn’t help him. The drink made him into a different person. We want justice for Justin.’
Source: Daily Mail
