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If you smoke, we know you’ve already heard it all before. We’re not here to tell you to stop smoking, just about the scientific benefits you might experience if you choose to do so.
Intrigued by a life without smoking? Read on to discover the numerous ways in which dropping the habit can benefit your life.
People who suffer from mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, PTSD, schizophrenia, or any other condition are more likely to become smokers.
Tragically, the NHS UK reports that folks with mental illness die on average 10-20 years earlier than those who don’t. They claim that this is largely due to the fact that those with mental illness are more likely to pick up a pack.
Not only that, but smoking can also disrupt the effects of medicine. Do you take medications (whether for physical or mental ailments)? It’s possible that smoking is disrupting the benefits of that medication.
While smoking feels like it helps with stress, it ultimately stresses you out more. There are studies that show that those who quit smoking have lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety.
For example, a study published on February 13, 2014 found that quitting smoking can drastically improve one’s mental well-being.
“Smoking cessation is associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress and improved positive mood and quality of life compared with continuing to smoke,” the authors of the study write. “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.”
They also note, “Smokers experience irritability, anxiety, and depression when they have not smoked for a while, and these feelings are reliably relieved by smoking, thus creating the perception that smoking has psychological benefits, while in fact it is smoking that caused these psychological disturbances in the first place.”
When your mental health is in a good place, you can feel it. And when it’s not, there is no shame in taking medication to help the problem. However, evidence suggests that quitting smoking will relieve anxiety and depression in a similar way to taking antidepressants.
This is good news for folks who are already on numerous medications and don’t want to add another.
If you find yourself wanting to quit, check out these resources to help you get started!
