Why Quit

Tobacco and Mental Health

Many people with mental health conditions smoke. Some of the most common mental health conditions are emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

If you experience any of these conditions, you are not alone if you smoke or if you have a hard time quitting. The good news is that you can quit with the right support, resources, and medications.

Research shows that quitting does not make symptoms of emotional distress worse. It can actually make you feel better! Below, read more about support and resources available on BecomeAnEX. You will also learn about different medications that are safe and effective.

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Quitting Smoking with a Mental, Behavioral, or Emotional Health Diagnosis

Each year, one out of five Americans experiences depression, anxiety, or other mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders.

If you have experienced one of these conditions, there's good news! Quit smoking treatments can work for you, and they won't make your symptoms any worse.

If you smoke and you often experience stress or anxiety, or if you have been diagnosed with another mental health condition, you're not alone. In fact, smoking is much more common among people with a mental health condition. There are many reasons for this. One is that health care providers who treat mental health issues do not talk about or treat smoking as often as other health care providers.

In addition, there are several myths about smoking and mental health that can prevent doctors and others from trying to help their patients quit. Here are three of them, with research that shows they are not true.

Common Myths

Myth: Mental health conditions don't want to stop smoking.

Myth: Persons with mental health conditions can't quit smoking.

Myth: Quitting smoking can make mental health condition symptoms worse.

TRUTH: If you experience depression, anxiety, or stress, quitting smoking can make you feel better! Even if you have schizophrenia, studies show that quitting smoking does not make your symptoms any worse.

As you are quitting, you might feel irritable or restless, have trouble sleeping or concentrating, or feel anxious, depressed, or hungry. Don't worry! In most cases, these are symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, and not your mental health condition getting worse. These feelings usually go away in a few days. Once you get past the withdrawal symptoms, quitting smoking can make you feel as good as using anti-depressants.

Available Quit Treatments

If you have depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or other conditions, quit smoking treatments work for you just as they do for people without a similar diagnosis. However, you may need some extra help to be successful.

For example, it might help you to get treatment more often or for a longer period of time. BecomeAnEX is a great resource for anyone who wants to quit. It can be used as often or as long as you want. And the community members are always ready to support you in your quit.

You might also need higher doses of quit smoking medications or more than one kind of medication at a time. Quitting smoking can change the way some medications work, especially those used to treat severe mental health conditions. For many people, quitting smoking means they need less of their other medications. You should discuss any changes in medication with your health care provider. If you have serious mental illness , you should tell your doctor when you are stopping smoking so you can talk about any medication changes.

Special Considerations

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Non-Nicotine Medications

Smokers can use two non-nicotine medications to help them quit: bupropion (Zyban), and varenicline (Chantix). Both of these have a labeled warning that 'some patients have experienced changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking the medication', and that if these should occur, the smoker should stop taking the medication and discuss these symptoms with a health care provider.

However, the warning about these medications does not say that you should be excluded from taking these medications to stop smoking if you have a mental health condition. In fact, a review of 17 different studies found that these medications help people with serious mental illness to quit smoking.

The review also found that taking non-nicotine medications did not make emotional distress worse. As with any medication change, you should talk with your doctor about whether using Zyban or Chantix is right for you.

More information about non-nicotine medications.

Coaching or Counseling

Coaching or counseling for quitting smoking is recommended for all smokers. Both can be done face-to-face either in an individual or group setting, or by telephone. A recent review study found that some Internet programs, such as BecomeAnEX, are as effective as these other kinds of quit smoking treatments.

While not enough is known about the specific treatments that are most effective for people with mental health conditions, we do know that you can expect better results with more intensive treatment if you have a mental health condition. Because of this, in most cases some kind of coaching or counseling will be more helpful for you than using medications by yourself or quitting "cold turkey." To see what other people like you have used to quit, check out the BecomeAnEX Community. It is available 24/7, and can provide you with as much support as you need to help you quit.

Learn More About How to Quit

Additional Resources

For Individuals Wanting to Quit and Living with Mental Illness:

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Connection

NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group is a free, peer-led support group for adults living with mental illness. You will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others, and the groups are led by NAMI-trained facilitators who've been there. Tell your support system about your plan to quit so they can hold you to your word and help you when you're struggling.

BecomeAnEx

BecomeAnEx presents the issue, works to dispel myths about quitting, and addresses cessation treatments.