Cigarette Smoking Can Lead You To Suicidal Thoughts

Health experts have always recommended that cigarette smoking is injurious to health. Despite several health warnings on cigarette packs and tobacco products, the habit refuses to die down.

A new study has found that cigarette smoking can lead you to suicidal thoughts.

The study, which was published this week in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, found more closer association between smoking and suicide than previously thought.

In a press release, the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said that during a smoking-related study, the researchers found that the habit of cigarette use can be checked with tougher laws.

These findings were first reported by MedicineNet.com.

Previous studies have shown that smokers were more likely to take their own lives than nonsmokers.

“The smoking is common among people with psychiatric disorders. They also have higher suicide rates,” MedicineNet said in its report.

It further said, “Smoking itself may increase suicide risk and that efforts to reduce smoking may lead to lower suicide rates.”

“Indoor smoking bans also were associated with risk reductions. Our analysis showed that each dollar increase in cigarette taxes was associated with a 10 percent decrease in suicide risk,” lead study author Richard Grucza, associate professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in the university’s news release.

The researchers carried the study to analyze suicide rates among people living in those states that have strict anti-smoking policies. The researchers collected data between1990 and 2004 and compared them with those states that had more relaxed policies for smokers.

The researchers found that the states that had imposed smoke-free air regulations and excise taxes on cigarettes had lower adjusted suicide rates in comparison to those states with weak anti-smoking initiatives.

“There does seem to be a substantial reduction in the risk for suicide after these policies are implemented,” Grucza said.

The stricter laws will definitely put a check on the tobacco use and smoking habits, researchers said.

They, however, expressed need for a deep analysis further as they say, there were limitations on their study.

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Christina Langfold

Remember that weird girl in school who never quite managed to fit in? Who was always silent and strange? That was me during my entire teenage life. A few years after finishing college (with a degree in arts) I decided that the best way to become more sociable, while also feeling safe, is to test my people skills online.