Smoking and mental illness: CrossCurrents Winter 2002/03

CrossCurrents

According to the World Health Report 2001, people with psychiatric illnesses are about twice as likely to smoke as others; those with schizophrenia and alcohol dependence are particularly likely to be heavy smokers, with rates as high as 86%. A 2000 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that individuals with psychiatric illnesses had a smoking rate of 41% compared with 22.5% in the general population, and estimated that 44% of all cigarettes smoked in the United States are consumed by people with psychiatric illnesses.

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