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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2014, @04:04PM
Smoking studies are like global warming studies. They adopt a new form of scientific method that goes as follows:
1) Start with a political/social agenda disguised as a hypothesis
2) Cherry pick data, carefully rig experiments, and cook numbers--anything that can be manipulated to support hypothesis
3) Release report confirming the hypothesis that you intended to be confirmed all along, whether true or not.
4) Make a big deal about it in the press, use it to get grant money for another study and/or tenure.
5) Goto 1
(Score: 2, Insightful) by lx on Monday February 24 2014, @04:32PM
6) anonymous industry shills show up in the thread and start attacking the source and ignoring the data.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2014, @05:30PM
Fanatics always personally attack all non-believers as infidels. Guess the truth hurts.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Monday February 24 2014, @07:08PM
Smoking studies are like global warming studies.
Supported by a massive pile of irrefutable evidence?
(Score: 1) by lhsi on Tuesday February 25 2014, @10:00AM
I take it you didn't follow the link. Its directly to a research paper, not a report in the press.