Quitting smoking has many health benefits, whether we talk about physical condition or emotional well-being, and proof of this is that new research has shown that quitting smoking can reduce levels of anxiety and depression and improve health mental health, both in people who suffer from psychiatric disorders, and in those who do not have this type of problem.
The study was led by a team of researchers from Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, using data from 4,260 adult smokers – 55.4% of whom had a history of mental illness. who participated in a clinical trial –Evaluating Adverse Events in a Global Smoking Cessation Study (EAGLES)– that was carried out in 140 centers in 16 countries between 2011 and 2015 to assess the changes that occurred in mental health after quitting smoking.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death globally, and nearly half of all smokers die from a smoking-related disease. Although many smokers say they want to quit, they continue to do so because they believe it helps relieve stress and provides psychological benefits, as there is a widespread perception that cigarettes have a calming effect.
“What people perceive as the benefits of smoking are the withdrawal symptoms of cigarettes. While smoking provides a short-term benefit, smoking itself is the cause of the problems.”
In some cases, even mental health professionals do not advise patients with psychiatric disorders to stop smoking because they fear it will worsen their condition. However, study results that have been published in JAMA Network Open have shown that abstinence from smoking between weeks 9 and 24 was associated with significant improvements in anxiety and depression scores.
Help people with mental disorders to quit smoking
“We use three statistical approaches to reduce confounding, so we provide stronger evidence on the effects of quitting smoking on mental health. Quitting smoking will not make it worse and may improve mental health outcomes,” said Min Gao, a researcher at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and co-author of the study.
As Paul Aveyard, professor of behavioral medicine in Nuffield’s Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and another of the paper’s authors, has pointed out: “Many people who smoke cannot contemplate quitting. They know it affects their health, but they feel they need cigarettes to cope with stress. This is what people experience every day when they smoke: they feel better afterward. However, what people perceive as the benefits of smoking are the withdrawal symptoms of cigarettes. While smoking provides a short-term benefit, smoking itself is the cause of the problems. Without smoking, mental health improves on average. Our study joins others showing that when people quit smoking their mental health improves, while those who don’t quit don’t.”
Angela Wu, lead author and a researcher at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, has stated that although smoking rates are declining in the UK in the general population, this is not the case in the UK. case of people who suffer from mental health problems: “The number of smokers who also have a mental health condition has remained the same since 1993 (approximately 40%). We hope that our results can help motivate policy makers and stakeholders to better support smoking cessation in people with mental health problems.”
“Quitting smoking is not easy,” adds this scientist, “what we do know is that you are more likely to quit smoking successfully when you receive support, either pharmacologically or behaviorally.” Wu says there are numerous interventions that can help you quit smoking, including medical advice, nicotine replacement therapy (for example, patches, gum, and sprays), and even trying e-cigarettes that don’t burn tobacco, which is the most more harmful than smoking cigarettes, but they can provide nicotine.
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