Public Health England's Stoptober campaign is running throughout October. It is perfect opportunity to quit smoking
Pete Stewart is the lead for the QUIT team, our tobacco dependence treatment team, which helps staff and service users stop smoking.
He has written a blog about the benefits to mental health for anyone giving up smoking.
Have you ever heard someone say that smoking helps them manage their stress levels?
As the lead for the QUIT team (tobacco dependence treatment team), I’ve had a lot of people over the years tell me similar things. I also hear healthcare colleagues repeat the same things about the service users they work with, telling me that smoking helps them with their mental health.
It’s funny how beliefs like this become the accepted knowledge, purely because we hear it said so often. Funny really isn’t the word when we consider the stark statistics that show that people with mental health conditions are far more likely to smoke (and smoke more heavily).
Smoking-related illnesses are the single largest cause of premature death for people with mental health conditions, with people dying 10 to 20 years prematurely. How can something that is so deadly, that causes such poor health and disability, that keeps people trapped in poverty actually be good for someone’s mental health?
The answer is simple. You might think that smoking provides relief from stress, anxiety and depression but the opposite is true. Smoking is not a ‘crutch’. It is the addiction to tobacco that creates that illusion. An addiction and not a ‘lifestyle choice’.
Smoking can offer a temporary sense of relief but this soon gives way to unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. When you haven’t had a cigarette for a while the craving can make you irritable and anxious, trapping you in a stress cycle which could be making daily life harder. Smoking won’t get rid of stress, anxiety and low mood in the long-term.
Stopping smoking is the first step to breaking the cycle. I have never met an ex-smoker (myself included) who regrets stopping.
Do you think these benefits might help mental health more than being trapped in a cycle of stress?
If you know people who smoke, I hope you can help spread this message. It’s not their fault they are addicted, and it’s not their fault their addiction causes withdrawal symptoms which are hard to deal with – especially if they are already struggling with their mental health.
