However, smoking encourages the brain to switch off its own mechanism for making dopamine so in the long term the supply decreases, which in turn prompts people to smoke more. People with depression can have particular difficulty when they try to stop smoking and have more severe withdrawal symptoms. People with schizophrenia are three times more likely to smoke than other people and tend to smoke more heavily.
A recent study has shown smoking may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. However, further research is needed to fully understand how the two are linked.
Stopping smoking suddenly through willpower alone is the least effective way to quit. If you take antidepressants or antipsychotic medicines, talk to your GP or psychiatrist before you stop smoking. The dosage you take may need to be monitored and the amount you need to take could be reduced. This is because smoking can reduce the levels of some medications in the blood, so you may need a lower dose when you quit. Think about your relationship with smoking.
Write down what you will gain by not smoking, such as better physical health, fresher breath, improved concentration and more money to spend on other things. Stopping smoking can be easier with the support of family and friends. If you live with people who smoke, or have friends who smoke, suggest to them that you give up together. If other household members smoke, encourage them not to smoke around you or leave their cigarettes, ashtrays or lighters where you will see them.
Some things people find helpful are meditation and breathing exercises, regular exercise, cutting down on alcohol, eating a well-balanced diet, acupuncture and hypnosis. Eight percent of the group were current smokers, and 22 percent were former smokers. The UK Biobank took self-reported information from participants about smoking status-current, former, never, age that the person started smoking, if they once smoked but stopped, age at cessation in years, and number of cigarettes smoked per day.
Depression was determined by a diagnosis that was confirmed by health medical records or self-reported cases of having a diagnosis or treatment, and schizophrenia was indicated by diagnosis or research-based assessments. Investigators found that smoking was associated with a percent higher risk of developing schizophrenia, and a nearly doubled risk for developing depression.
They also found that the relationship works the other way for depression; people who are depressed are more likely to smoke. The evidence that people with schizophrenia were more likely to smoke was less conclusive. The same research team used Mendelian randomization to show that smoking is likely a causal risk factor for bipolar disorder in a study published in September in the British Journal of Psychiatry. These findings are supported by other research that suggests that quitting smoking can improve mental health symptoms, according to Wootton.
Whilst smokers feel that cigarettes can ease feelings of stress and anxiety, it is actually proven that the opposite is true, and that smoking can cause heightened feelings of stress and anxiety due to withdrawals from Nicotine. There have also been studies that show that most people that smoke are more stressed than non-smokers although it is not proven whether highly stressed individuals take up smoking or if the stress is the result of smoking.
Factors such as peer pressure and the need to fit in play an important role. Once someone that experiences stress or anxiety has their first cigarette, they may experience feelings of relaxation and a decrease in stress from the release of Dopamine in the brain. This can be a contributing factor for them to continue smoking. Within the first ten seconds of smoking a cigarette, a dose of nicotine reaches the brain.
This causes the smoker to firstly feel an improvement in their mood, followed by better concentration and may even relax muscles. These effects over time gradually reduce and the need to smoke gets greater and the addiction gets stronger.
Once addicted, the smoker can start to feel negative effects to their mood unless they are smoking and this is due to withdrawals from Nicotine.
This means trying to quit can stir up some uncomfortable feelings. According to Professor Ann McNeill , a professor of tobacco addiction at King's College London and a tobacco policy expert, it is easy to see why so many people associate smoking with stress relief. She points out, however, that this reprieve in the withdrawal symptoms should not be confused with actual mental health benefits.
In fact, something close to the opposite is true. We often talk about how smoking damages people physically, and this has been heavily researched.
How smoking affects mental health is less well researched and needs much greater attention. While cause and effect can get jumbled here do people start smoking because they have mental health problems, or do they develop these problems because of smoking? The data consistently show that people with mental health conditions are more likely to smoke, and the more severe the condition the higher the smoking prevalence.
Among adults with depression , smoking rates are about twice as high as among adults without, and among those with schizophrenia , rates are about three times higher. What's more, people with mental health conditions tend be at higher risk of smoking-related harm and suffer worse withdrawal symptoms. This is not surprising, considering the benefits mental and physical that quitting smoking confers.
According to the World Health Organization , within a year of quitting smoking, your risk of heart disease falls to about half that of a smoker's, and within 15 years it falls to the level of someone who has never smoked.
If you quit smoking aged 30, your life expectancy will be 10 years higher than someone who continues to smoke. Over the shorter term, you will benefit from increased energy, improved sense of taste and smell, a boost to your immune system and better lung function.
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