Contrary to some popular belief, quitting smoking does not cause mood disorders. On the contrary, it would be beneficial against stress, depression and would promote social well-being.
- Quitting smoking is known to cause mood disorders
- Study Shows It’s Wrong: Quitting Smoking Is Good for Stress, Anxiety, and Social Well-Being
Bad mood, stress, loss of social well-being: so many disorders related, it is said, to the fact of quitting smoking. Well that’s wrong! Better, quitting smoking would rather reduce anxiety and depression. This is confirmed a study conducted by researchers from the universities of Bath, Birmingham, Oxford and New York and published by the Cochrane review which is interested in the mental health of people who have quit smoking for at least six weeks.
This work is based on the analysis of more than a hundred observational studies involving nearly 170,000 people: the researchers combined the results of 63 of these studies measuring the differences in changes in mental health symptoms among those who quit smoking compared to those who continued to smoke.
Depression, anxiety and stress
And the findings are clear: people who quit smoking for at least six weeks (some were followed for up to six years) suffered less depression, anxiety and stress than those who didn’t. quit smoking. And quitting smoking would have had no impact on the quality of social relationships, the study even stressing that it is “possible that this quitting is associated with a slight improvement in social well-being”. The main benefits recorded relate to depression, anxiety, stress, positive feelings and mental well-being.
No negative impact on social life
“We found that quitting smoking was associated with small to moderate improvements in mood, with these smoking cessation benefits appearing to be similar across a large number of people,” the authors add. The idea that smoking helps reduce stress and other mental health symptoms and that quitting smoking can make these problems worse is totally debunked!
“Many people who smoke fear that quitting will disrupt their social relationships and lead them to feelings of loneliness… These people can be reassured that quitting does not appear to have a negative impact on social life and evidence exist that stress is reduced in people who quit smoking and that there are likely longer-term benefits for their mental health,” said Dr. Gemma Taylor, lead author of the study.
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