According to a recent New York Times article, people with mental illness are 70 percent more likely to smoke cigarettes than those without mental illness. A report from the federal Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that adults with mental illness (1) smoke one-third of all cigarettes in the U.S., (2) smoke more cigarettes per month, and (3) are less likely to quit than people without mental illness.
The report found that smoking rates for people with mental illness were higher among the poor, the less educated, and residents of states with higher overall smoking rates.
While smoking rates have declined for the general population, they have remained unchanged for people with mental illness over the last decade. As a result, CDC director, Dr. Thomas Frieden, states, “Many people with mental illness are at greater risk of dying early from smoking than of dying from their mental health conditions.”
The report notes several possible reasons smoking rates remain high among this population, including tobacco industry marketing, the use of cigarettes to improve behavior in psychiatric hospitals, and the potential therapeutic effects of nicotine on certain psychiatric symptoms.
For more information, see OLR Report 2012-R-0402 on Schizophrenia and Cigarette Smoking.
