Los Angeles — Despite the now well-known and far-reaching effects of smoking, more than one-fifth of Americans still smoke. Why?
For many, it may be hard to quit because they also have depression. According to government statistics released Tuesday, 43 percent of adult smokers age 20 and older have depression. Among men ages 40 to 54, a whopping 55 percent of those who smoke have depression. Among women ages 20 to 39 who smoke, 50 percent have depression.
The report, drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys of 2005 through 2008, also found depressed smokers are heavier smokers. Depressed people were more likely to smoke within five minutes of awakening and to smoke more than one pack of cigarettes a day. Twenty-eight percent of adult smokers with depression smoked more than a pack a day, which is almost twice the rate for adult smokers without depression.
Smokers with depression were also much less likely to have tried quitting.
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novalissuperstar (anonymous) says…
life is depressing whether you smoke or not, may as well burn one off while the ship is sinking
budwhysir (anonymous) says…
In todays world, I bet studies would find that the percentage of people suffering from depression is very very very high. Lets face it, some of these people will smoke, some will drink, some will take out frustrations at the gym and I am sure there are many many more activities that people use to fight depression
cowboy (anonymous) says…
sounds like a pretty bogus study to me , although an awful lot of people whine about their station in life always wanting more and not enjoying whats right in front of them.
Tom , all of us who read your posts are well aware that you drink !
just poking fun amigo , have a good sunny beautiful undepressing day !
g_rock (anonymous) says…
I recently quit smoking and have done fairly well!
But I find some of this odd. If I was a smoker because I was depressed, this why was it really depressing to quit? And the 15 lbs. that I gained is kind of depressing too.
The one thing that I did notice is that quitting sort of freed my mind of the time constraint of always thinking about when my next smoke break was. That is how I marked my day. Without it, time is less of a factor in my day. The day moves quicker. Work is more productive. In retrospect, that element alone about smoking seems depressing. But that element of depression was an effect of smoking. It didn't exist before the smoking. It was something that the smoking itself created.
Just a few random thoughts from a person 46 days out...
jayhawklawrence (anonymous) says…
One important guideline that I think it helps to remember is that your body may be more susceptible to the addictive chemicals in smoke. So after you quit, if you go and sit with a smoker and breathe his smoke for a certain period of time, you will be addicted again.
I can tell you how long it takes for me to get addicted again. About 1 hour.
After that, I start to feel the nagging desire for a cigarette. Knowing this fact has kept me smoke free. I just don't spend more than 30-40 minutes with a smoker or around smoky places.
It has been several years now. I am 30 lbs lighter, in pretty good shape and I bike and workout whenever I can. My energy level is sky high compared to before and I am rarely depressed about anything. If I get down, I know that a good bike ride will get me going again.
I am approaching 60, but I don't feel like it. I am looking forward to what I can get accomplished this Spring as far as my workout schedule and the hills I want to climb.
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
I wonder if a Secret Service agent has to pick up Dear Leader's butts after he sneaks out into the Rose Garden to burn one.
LynnT (anonymous) says…
I don't think it is just smokers that are depressed. Anti-depressants are the most prescribed medication in the U.S. maybe the world.
Yoda51 (anonymous) says…
Only smokers who are young and dumb enough to think that smoking will kill other people but not me can be cavalier about their smoking habits. Watch a loved one, who smoked for 50 years and who has COPD struggle to breathe. Or watch them undergo surgery to remove the middle lobe of their lung because of a malignant tumor. Or watch them weep when their 56 year old daughter, who picked up smoking with the old man, dies of cancer. It ain't funny and if you keep smoking, you're going down the same path. Now that's depressing!
BigPrune (anonymous) says…
In other words, Heir Obama has a 55% chance of suffering from depression. This might explain his decisions.
One feature of depression is an inability to make even the simplest decisions. When a depressed person does make some choice, the one not chosen immediately seems to be the correct one. For the normal person for whom decision-making is easy, such indecision causes contempt and scorn.
No wonder Heir Obama makes it feel like we are living on a roller coaster ride.
jafs (anonymous) says…
BP,
If you think that decisions at the presidential level are easy to make well, I don't know what world you're living in.
BigPrune (anonymous) replies…
More troops in Afghanistan or less troops? Deadline for pull-out or no deadline for pull-out, pull-out deadline? The list could go on and on, and Heir Obama's reluctance to make a decision in a timely manner - points right the root of this article. He's one of the 55%.
hawkman8950 (anonymous) says…
sounds as if jafs is a former president and has an abundance of experience
pooter (anonymous) says…
I just thought I was depressed until I read this article.
*
poppygirl (anonymous) says…
Maybe the depression is tied to the cost of the cigs to begin with !!!!!!!!!
anaughtymouse (anonymous) says…
I smoked for several years and then one day decided I was going to quit. I quit cold turkey almost 2 years ago and I haven't looked back. I'm not saying its that easy for all... I know it isn’t. I think I was more depressed as a smoker than I am now
As a smoker you give something else total control of your life... you plan everything around the number of cigs you have and the ability to get more... you stand outside in the freezing cold, pouring rain, overwhelming heat.. you know you will get an awful cough at least once a year that will last weeks... non-smokers shoot judgmental stares... and all the while you know this habit will kill you... it is depressing to know you have totally given in
puddleglum (anonymous) says…
yes tom presidents are elected to make fun of. what else are they good for?
maybe americans are just depressed because they spend all their dollas on chinese crap at walmart, then lose their manufacturing jobs, then spend their dollas on more chinese crap at walmart, then lose their accounting jobs, then spend dollas on chinese junk.
GO TEAM!
jayhawklawrence (anonymous) says…
Your quality of life will be SO MUCH better if you quit smoking.
I watched an uncle and a father literally die from smoking.
I am sorry they could not realize how much better they would have enjoyed life without the smokes.
It is never too late to quit.
Clickker (anonymous) says…
I'm 385 lbs and smoke about a 1/2 pack a day...maybe a pack on weekends if I go out drinking. I am probably more depressed about my weight than I am my cig habit, and more depressed that it cost me an arm and a leg to keep in the chips and the smokes.