# Healing and Wellbeing > General Health >  >  "Quitting smoking reduces stress, depression and anxiety" by Fron Jackson-Webb

## Member11

_"Quitting smoking reduces stress, depression and anxiety" by Fron Jackson-Webb is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0_





> Quitting smoking is associated with reduced depression and anxiety, and has a similar effect to antidepressant drugs for mood disorders, British researchers have found.
> 
> Published in the journal BMJ, the study shows the improvement in mood, stress levels and quality of life is as large among the general population as those with existing mental health disorders.
> 
> The researchers, from the universities of Birmingham, Oxford and Kings College London, set out to test the assumption that tobacco improves users' mood.
> 
> "Although most smokers report wanting to quit, many continue as they report that smoking provides them with mental health benefits," the authors said in the paper.
> 
> The researchers analysed the results of 26 studies that assessed the mental health of participants before and after they quit. Participants had an average age of 44, smoked around 20 cigarettes a day, and were followed up for an average of six months.
> ...

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## Otherside

It ironic that a lot of doctors used to recommended smoking to help deal with anxiety and stress. 

That said, cigarettes apparently have a calming effect. I'm not surprised there's a higher proportion of people with a mental illness who smoke.

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## Member11

> It ironic that a lot of doctors used to recommended smoking to help deal with anxiety and stress.



Yeah, and it is also quite interesting how things have changed in big ways.

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## Ironman

It also means you don't have to have your lungs scraped.

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## FireIsTheCleanser

So what if I started smoking, got myself all nice and addicted, then stop. Would my anxiety levels go back to the way they were before I started smoking, or _below_ that level?

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## Member11

> So what if I started smoking, got myself all nice and addicted, then stop. Would my anxiety levels go back to the way they were before I started smoking, or _below_ that level?



If anything your anxiety levels would be a bit higher than it was before you started smoking, because of the leftover effects of the smoking. This research only applies to people who are current smokers, and was about that weird this that went around that said smokers feel relaxed and have less anxiety over non-smokers. We know that is false now.

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## Antidote

> "Among people reporting a mental illness, the proportion of smokers is 32%, which is double that of the general population, and smoking rates are even higher for people with psychotic illness."



Schizophrenics smoke to self medicate.

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