The Little Blue Book

Smoking: links to depression & other disorders There is clear statistical evidence to show that people with symptoms of mental illness are more likely to smoke than the general population. SANE Australia reports that “an estimated 32% of people with a mental illness smoke tobacco compared to 18% of the general Australian population”. The same research shows smoking rates among people with a chronic psychiatric illness as high as 73% in males and 56% of females. 4 There is also growing evidence of a link between cigarette smoking, as a direct cause, to depression. In a study involving more than 1000 men and women aged 18, 21 and 25 years and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand concluded, “The best- fitting causal model was one in which nicotine dependence led to increased risk of depression.” 5 (1) The Epigenetics of Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy and Effects on Child Development; V. S. Knopik, M. A. Maccani, et al; US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2) The Epigenetics of Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy and Effects on Child Development; V. S. Knopik, M. A. Maccani, et al; US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH) (3) Genetics and Epigenetics of Addiction; NIH, National Institute on Drug Abuse; www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/genetics-epigenetics-addiction) (4) SANE Australia; Smoking and Mental Illness: SANE Factsheet 16 (2012) (5) Cigarette smoking and depression: tests of causal linkages using a longitudinal birth cohort; Boden, J.M., et al; The British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 196, June 2010.) The children of smokers or heavy drinkers are themselves at increased risk of addiction disorders. 77 ADA Australia PostScript Section 2 Section 1 Section 3