Most smokers light up when they are not in the best mood. Research now shows that in the short term this is true, but after a long period of time smokers can become overwhelmingly hopelessness.
Though the question about which comes first still needs to be answered, an addictions specialist in Vancouver claims that depression only makes the consequences of nicotine worse.
Ray Baker, medical director of Health Quest, a clinic that helps people dealing with addictions, says, "This (depression) makes the hazards of smoking even greater."
Baker explains, "We've always known that in the short term, nicotine acts like an antidepressant. We've always thought that people with depression are more likely to smoke because they are self-medicating. When they try to stop, often a side effect is depression. But when their depression is concurrent, they have a much tougher time quitting. The depression gets worse, and so they have the urge to smoke."
"This is why we have to address the whole person: we have to look at the depression and we have to look at the addiction. It's part of the whole recovery process," Baker added.
This is why trying to force people to stop smoking is not as simple as making a ban. By making smokers feel like outcasts of society, their problems are only getting worse.
[Via: straight.com]
