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from the bender-might-be-less-cranky-if-he-ditched-cigars dept.
lhsi writes "A recent publication on the British Medical Journal finds that stopping smoking improves mental health: "Change in mental health after smoking cessation: systematic review and meta-analysis" (CC BY-NC 3.0).
A lot of smokers claim that smoking has mental health benefits; reducing depression and anxiety, and for relaxation and relieving stress. However the study suggests this is likely mis-attributing the ability of cigarettes to abolish nicotine withdrawal as a beneficial effect on mental health. The study notes that some health professionals are reluctant to recommend stopping smoking as a way to help mental health problems due to the fear that it might make things worse, but this study suggests that it actually would help.
The main conclusion of the study:
Smoking cessation is associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress and improved positive mood and quality of life compared with continuing to smoke. The effect size seems as large for those with psychiatric disorders as those without. The effect sizes are equal or larger than those of antidepressant treatment for mood and anxiety disorders."
(Score: 2) by dilbert on Monday February 24 2014, @01:48PM
Your comment assumes that people are well-informed, rational, and strong-willed enough to overcome addiction.
In my experience, the above describes a very small minority of the population.
Additionally, people are motivated by different things, so even if everyone knew of the health risks of smoking, had the ability to overcome the addiction, they still might choose to continue smoking for other reasons (teenagers wanting to appear cool, desire to annoy others, a guaranteed break from work every hour or so, etc).