Controversy burns over smokers (debating finding of depression) [View All]

[HuckleB]

Controversy burns over smokers -- Debate arises over the use of findings by experts that smokers are more depressed.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-livcrave26042605apr26,0,1955877.story?coll=orl-home-entlife

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Social scientists turned to a new quarry: understanding the mind of the smoker. What they have found has proved more controversial than most researchers expected: Smokers are more depressed and suffer a higher rate of anxiety disorders and other psychological maladies. At the same time, nicotine may provide a mental boost that helps them cope. These findings help explain why some people won't quit, experts say.

"We thought understanding the smoker's mind would help us end tobacco use," says Gerald Markle, professor of sociology at Western Michigan University and author of Cigarettes: The Battle Over Smoking. "But, in some respects, we've raised as many new questions as we've answered."

Recent studies show smokers are 4.7 times more likely than the population at large to suffer from major depression. Dozens of other surveys reveal cigarette users are more liable to struggle with anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcoholism and drug use.

Smokers consistently demonstrate higher-than-average levels of neuroticism and high-risk behaviors, and show poorer impulse control than nonsmokers.

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