Cigarette smoke damages mental health

 

 

For decades, it had been known that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, low birth weight and high blood pressure, among others. However, it has been unclear whether smoking causes mental health problems.

 

According to findings published in PLOS ONE by Prof. Hagai Levine of Hebrew University of Jerusalem's-Hadasssah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Assistant Prof. Tatjana Gazibara at the University of Belgrade and PhD student Marija Milic at the University of Pristina, smoking damages mental health.

 

The scientists surveyed more than 2,000 students enrolled at Serbian universities, with differing socio-political and economic environments and they found out that students who smoked had rates of clinical depression that were twice to three times higher than that of their non-smoking peers. 

 

At the University of Pristina, 14% of smokers suffered from depression as opposed to 4% of their non-smoking peers, and at Belgrade University, the numbers were 19% to 11%, respectively. 

 

According to the research, no matter the students' economic or socio-political backgrounds, students who smoked also had higher rates of depressive symptoms and lower mental health scores (such as vitality and social functioning) than did non-smoking students. 

 

"Our study adds to the growing body of evidence that smoking and depression are closely linked. While it may be too early to say that smoking causes depression, tobacco does appear to have an adverse effect on our mental health," Levine said.

 

The timing of the study publication coincides with a milestone event in Israel's war on tobacco. An amendment to Israel's law on restriction on advertising and marketing tobacco and smoking products went into effect. 

 

The law mandates a countrywide ban on store displays of tobacco products, an increase in the size of cigarette box warnings from 30% to 65% and requires all tobacco and e-cigarette products to be sold in uniform packaging, with no individual logos or company branding.

 

Levine would like to see policymakers take into account smoking's mental health effects.

 

"I urge universities to advocate for their students' health by creating ‘smoke-free campuses' that not only ban smoking on campus, but also tobacco advertising, too.  Combined with policies that prevent, screen and treat mental health problems, including addiction, these steps would go a long way towards combatting the harmful effects that smoking has on our physical and mental states," Levine said.