The relationship between smoking cessation and binge drinking, depression, and anxiety symptoms among smokers with serious mental illness

The prevalence of smoking among those with mental health disorders is two to three times higher than that of the general US population, depending on clinical diagnosis (Gfroerer et al., 2013). Those with diagnoses consistent with serious mental illness (SMI) like major depressive disorder (Crum et al., 2013; Grant and Harford, 1995) and schizophrenia (Drake and Mueser, 2002) are also more likely to engage in alcohol abuse behaviors. Furthermore, evidence suggests that there is a high prevalence of concurrent smoking and alcohol dependence; nicotine-dependent smokers have nearly 3-times higher risk of becoming alcohol dependent compared to nonsmokers (Breslau, 1995).
Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Full length article Source Type: research