Everyone knows that smoking is bad for your physical health but what about the impact on your mental health?
Smokefree Starts, a partnership between NHS South Yorkshire and all four local authorities within South Yorkshire have launched a campaign as part of Mental Health Awareness Week to increase understanding of the impact of smoking on mental health and encourage smokers to try to quit once more.
Tobacco remains one of the most preventable causes of ill health, disability, and death; and there are at least 16,000 hospital admissions due to smoking and around 5,900 deaths in South Yorkshire per year.
Whilst rates of smoking are falling in South Yorkshire, down to around 150,000 smokers, people with mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia are up to four times more likely to smoke.
A third of all cigarettes smoked in England are smoked by people with a mental health condition. Over time, societal norms have reinforced the mistaken belief that smoking helps manage levels of stress, anxiety and depression. This is a belief that is held by smokers and non- smokers alike. As a result, smoking is perceived as a coping mechanism for people with mental health conditions.
Ben Anderson, Director of Public Health in Rotherham said.
“Smokers may think that smoking provides relief from stress, anxiety, low mood and depression but the opposite is true. The perceived relief from these feelings is actually the effects of the tobacco withdrawal cycle.
"Stopping smoking can be as effective as antidepressants in reducing depression, anxiety and stress. Smoking traps you in a stress cycle which can make daily life harder and stopping smoking is the first step to breaking the cycle.”
This campaign hopes to address the common myths and misperceptions around the topic, increase understanding and raise awareness of the effects of smoking on mental health as well as highlighting the benefits of stopping.
These benefits include, feeling more positive, an improved mood, mental health and overall wellbeing, whilst being able to live a longer, healthier life. Stopping would also help lower levels of stress, irritability, anxiety and depression, whilst also saving an individual up to £2,500 on average in a year.
Research has shown that smokers with mental health conditions have a higher level of dependency on tobacco and spend disproportionately more on smoking, increasing the likelihood of financial insecurity which can then drive health inequalities. The good news is, smokers with mental health conditions are just as likely to want to quit and can achieve the same levels of success as those without mental health conditions, they face more barriers and need more support.
This campaign aims to increase the number of people who seek support across South Yorkshire and use our free local stop smoking services including quit aids such as nicotine replacement therapy (patches or gum) or Vapes. Services are easily accessible in a range of community settings, with individuals being three times more likely to achieve success with support of a specialist service.
David Crichton Medical Director of NHS South Yorkshire said:
“As smoking prevalence is significantly higher in people with mental health conditions, it is crucial that smokers, their family members and friends begin to understand the impact smoking can have on mental wellbeing.
"Smokers with these conditions should know that stopping smoking doesn’t have to be stressful. It is easier to stop with the right support and we have the expertise to get them through it. Addressing misperceptions and increasing awareness of the link between the smoking and mental health among healthcare professionals, is also imperative and we need to be having more conversations with smokers about these impacts.”
The campaign will run across Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. For more information visit www.smokefreestarts.co.uk
Local support is readily available for those wanting to start their journey and there are free local services across Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley:
barnsley.yorkshiresmokefree.nhs.uk
doncaster.yorkshiresmokefree.nhs.uk
rotherham-healthwave.co.uk
sheffield.yorkshiresmokefree.nhs.uk
For more information, contact Rebecca Gillard on 0114 221 0378 or email hello@divacreative.com