Depression Help

Depression, a common term for a sad or low mood or the loss of pleasure; an emotion that does not affect capacity to perform personal and vocational obligations

The findings were based on a five-year longitudinal epidemiologic study of 1,007 adults 22 to 35 years old.

The researchers found:

• A history of major depression was associated with a three-fold increase in the risk for progression to daily smoking
• A history of major depression did not significantly decrease a smoker’s rate of quitting during the ensuing five years
• A history of daily smoking significantly increased the risk for major depression

This study is the first report on the influence of major depression on the progression of smoking among people who have ever smoked, according to the researchers. The data offer a view of the relationship between major depression and the progression to daily smoking across a respondent’s life span and suggest that the influence of major depression on the progression to daily smoking begins in adolescence but does not predict smoking initiation.

“The observed influences from smoking to major depression and from major depression to subsequent daily smoking support the plausibility of shared etiologies,” the authors write. “Our results suggest that history of early conduct problems was an influential antecedent factor in both smoking and major depression and that history of early conduct problems accounted in part for the observed associations of major depression with smoking stages.

“The potential role of neuroticism, self-esteem and social skills in the depression-smoking association is an important topic for future research.”

Smoking As Self-medication:

By now, you are quite aware that smoking is not in your best interests. Well, here’s just one more reason to strongly consider stopping. To no one’s great surprise, there are some rather strong connections between smoking cigarettes and depression. You may have noticed that many smokers, perhaps even you, are more likely to show signs of depression than people who don’t smoke. So what do we know about this connection?

First of all, we know that people who are at risk in their lives for developing depression are much more likely to become dependent on tobacco. Many of you may have had the experience of being depressed, and know that the tendency is to smoke more when this happens. For people with a history of depression, a greater dependence on smoking seems to happen even when they are not actually experiencing a depression. This means that there is probably some biological connection between depression and tobacco use.

The other part of the connection is that people who smoke are more likely to develop depression. Nicotine has an effect on the brain. Initially, that effect may help decrease depression. A lot of people talk about how smoking a cigarette helps them feel less stressed out. However, when smoking continues for more than a few weeks, it has an opposite effect on the brain and depression may develop or get worse. This may be one of the ways that tobacco exerts its “addictive” effect. Withdrawal from nicotine, which happens when people quit smoking, can actually cause or worsen depression. Because of this, people who are depressed are more likely to fail in their attempts to quit smoking. Failing feels lousy, and may add to the depression.

Stopping smoking is not easy for anyone; if it was, we probably wouldn’t need to have this  For people prone to depression, quitting can feel impossible. A failed attempt to quit may leave us feeling inadequate, which may make depression worse. On the other hand, a successful effort at stopping can really boost our morale and self-esteem, which may help keep depression away. What is most important is to realize that depression won’t prevent your attempt to stop if you follow the right path to quitting.

 “To no one’s great surprise, there are some rather strong connections between smoking cigarettes and depression.”

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