Not Surprisingly, Smokers Are Often Depressed

It must be depressing to be a smoker in a society that has more or less rejected the habit. Now a study has attached some numbers to this problem. A cooperative analysis done by the University of Navarra, Spain, and Harvard School of Public Health determined the rates of depression in 8,500 graduate participants, and reported their findings in the journal Medicina Clinica.

Over a follow-up period of 4 years, 190 subjects who were originally free of depression reported a physician diagnosis of depression. A significantly higher risk was found for current smokers – they were 39% more likely to develop depression than non-smokers. However, those who had quit smoking for at least 10 years were only 42% as likely to get depression, compared to non-smokers.

So here’s yet another good reason not to smoke; or, if you’ve started, give it up (even better!).