Comments on: Is there a concrete link between smoking (nicotine addiction) and mental health problems?

By: ♥ Gin ♥

♥ Gin ♥ — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:43:42 +0000

This recent article gives a relevant cause (not yet proved) for the dual diagnosis of mental illness and addiction.

New research reveals that this type of dual diagnosis may stem from a common cause: developmental changes in the amygdala, a walnut-shaped part of the brain linked to fear, anxiety and other emotions. A full report on why these “comorbid” disorders may develop appears in the December Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

It makes sense to me I am Bipolar, OCD etc. and a smoker.

Hope this helps to give you the correlation you are searching for.

By: doug k

doug k — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:49:27 +0000

I agree with Peaches. Mind illnesses are not caused by nicotine, but nicotine seems to be one of the ways to effectively self-medicate.

By: peaches

peaches — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:18:45 +0000

I read an article several years ago in Psychology Today that said that it is better for people with schizophrenia to smoke than not to smoke. It said that it lessened the symptoms of schizophrenia and that 90 % of schizophenic people smoke.

By: Baybee Face

Baybee Face — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:45:47 +0000

People smoke to relieve stress and stressed out people have mental disorders (sometimes) but it’s all a matter of degree.