Towards a Smoke Free Life

The relationship between smoking and mental health

While general smoking rates are falling, this is not the case amongst the psychiatric populations, who suffer poor health as a consequence.

Smoking rates for people from this group tend to be, on average, twice as high as those for the general public. Smokers with a mental health problem also tend to smoke more heavily and be more dependent than smokers without mental health problems. For example, 51 per cent of individuals with a schizophrenia diagnosis and 50 per cent of those with a bipolar affective disorder smoked over 20 cigarettes a day compared to only eight per cent of the general population. A

USA

survey estimated that in one particular month, 45 per cent of all the cigarettes smoked were consumed by individuals with a psychiatric or substance misuse disorder.

Smoking related fatal diseases are also more prominent among individuals experiencing mental health problems than amongst the general public. A study in Finland found that having a mental health disorder predicted a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and respiratory disease.' It also found that individuals with schizophrenia were almost ten times more at risk of dying of a respiratory disease than other participants. These people 'are also often the least capable of coping with the effects of devastating medical illnesses caused by smoking.'

It was found that smoking, in contradiction to popular belief, exacerbates stress, state anxiety and sleep disorders. All of these are detrimental to most mental health conditions. Anxiety levels fall significantly after successfully giving up smoking for one week.

A research review found that smokers reported above-average stress prior to smoking, rather than below-average stress after smoking. Smokers smoke mainly to avoid the stress that nicotine depletion causes.

For more information please click here to read the factsheet from Mind, the mental health charity.