No smoke without fire
Posted on 17 July 2015
People suffering from schizophrenia and other psychoses tend to smoke more than the general population. The common explanation for this is that they do so to alleviate the symptoms of schizophrenia. However another explanation could be that tobacco smoking could actually increase its risk.
Ian Hamilton writes: "A recent study suggested a causal association between smoking tobacco and developing psychosis or schizophrenia, building on research about the relationship between the use of substances and the risk of psychosis. While cannabis is one of the usual suspects, a potential link with tobacco will have come as a surprise to many."
The report was based on a review of 61 observational studies and began with the hypothesis that if tobacco smoking played a part in increasing psychosis risk, rather than being used to deal with symptoms that were already there, people would have higher rates of smoking at the start of their illness. It also suggested that smokers have a higher risk of developing psychosis and an earlier onset of symptoms than non-smokers. They found that more than half of people with a first episode of schizophrenia were already smokers, three times higher than that of a control group."
No smoke without fire - the link between smoking and mental health.