Smoking Cessation May Improve Mental Health

A study published in the journal Psychological Medicine found that quitting or significantly cutting back on cigarette smoking was linked to improved mental health outcomes. Quitting altogether, or reducing the daily number of cigarettes by half, was associated with a lower risk for mood disorders and a lower likelihood of alcohol and drug problems. However, researchers are still unclear if improving mental health creates the desire to quit smoking, or if quitting smoking leads to an improvement in mental health. The research analyzed data from 4,800 daily smokers. Those who had addiction or other psychiatric problems at the time of first survey were less likely to have those same problems a year later if they had quit smoking. At the time of the first interview, about 40 percent of daily smokers suffered from mood or anxiety disorders. Additionally, about 50 percent of daily smokers had alcohol problems, and 24 percent of people had drug problems. To read more about this study, click here.