Smoking Common Among People with Mental Disorders

Smoking is injurious to health and there is no two ways about it. Finding solace by smoking is only an illusion. In reality, when an individual lights a cigarette, his life burns with it. Cigarette smoking is a serious concern among people with mental disorders. In fact, there is a significant link between smoking and mental health conditions, with nicotine being a leading contributor to early mortality in those suffering from such disorders.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in five American adults (around 45.7 million) suffers from some kind of mental illness and around 36 percent of them indulge in smoking. However, in comparison to people suffering from mental illness who are also smokers, only 21 percent adults without mental illness smoke cigarette.

The CDC also highlighted some disturbing stats about tobacco smoking and mental illness:

• Around 31 percent cigarettes are generally smoked by adults suffering from some kind of mental illness.
• Around 40 percent men and 34 percent women with mental illness also have smoking habits.
• Around 48 percent people who are under the poverty line and suffer from mental illness also smoke. In comparison, around 33 percent of those with mental illness live above the poverty line.

Nicotine stimulates dopamine production to produce pleasurable effects

People with mental health problems feel relaxed after smoking. Due to mood-altering effects of nicotine, people with mental illness are subsequently drawn towards it. Tobacco contains nicotine that gets absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly. Nicotine stimulates the dopamine production in the brain that causes soothing or pleasurable effects. Since people with mental disorders are under a constant state of stress, smoking helps unwind and relax.

People with mental illness start smoking as a form of self-medication. Most smokers are of the opinion that it helps reduce stress and anxiety. However, they become susceptible to develop a smoking addiction due to the subjective experience of reward or pleasure that can be extremely debilitating in the long run. The feeling of relaxation is never long-term and soon paves the way for increased cravings and withdrawal symptoms that, in turn, aggravate the mental problems.

Studies find link between mental disorders and smoking

Though scientists have been linking cigarette smoking with mental illness, there are studies questioning what came first. Nonetheless, researchers continue to look for relevant answers, but most of them have found strong causal links between smoking and mental illness and its reciprocal effects.

A study by the King’s College London in 2015 analyzed 61 observational studies involving almost 15,000 tobacco users and 273,000 non-users. They found that people who suffered from psychosis were about three times more likely to be smokers. Moreover, they also observed that daily smokers were prone to developing psychosis around a year earlier than non-smokers. They believed that changes in the brain caused by increasing dopamine levels triggered by nicotine might be responsible for the association.

A 2015 study by the University of Otago in New Zealand found that smokers were twice as prone to developing depression. The researchers said, “This evidence is consistent with the conclusion that there is a cause and effect relationship between smoking and depression in which cigarette smoking increases the risk of symptoms of depression.”

The CDC states that more people with mental illness are prone to smoking than people who are not suffering from any mental problems.

Treating co-occurring disorders

Proven stop-smoking treatments can help an individual suffering from mental illness to quit smoking. A proper dual diagnosis treatment addressing both the disorders simultaneously is helpful for an overall recovery. Treating just one disorder without focusing on the other will not help a person sustain the recovery process with increasing chance of a relapse. Thus, relapse prevention programs and smoking cessation treatments should be a part of the mental health treatments.

If you or your loved one is a victim of co-occurring disorders, seek dual diagnosis help in Florida. Our certified representatives from the Florida Dual Diagnosis Helpline can assist you in finding the most coveted dual diagnosis treatment centers in Florida. For more information on dual diagnosis treatments, call our 24/7 helpline at 866–337–7631 and we will assist you in your road to recovery.