Does smoking really relieve stress?
Gemma Taylor, of Birmingham University,appeared on BBC Radio on Monday 17th Febuary 2014, to talk about a review in the British Medical Joural that she had contributed to.
The review was of 26 studies into the mental health issues of giving up smoking. It was accepted that those who stopped smoking would suffer from symptoms of stress, irritability, anxiety and depression. The study wanted to look at these, as well as positive quality of life and positive affect in those who stopped.
The results showed significant improvements in all aspects of mental health - with anxiety and depression decreasing by 95%, and increases in quality of life too.
Gemma said that the findings should give hope to all those who were desparate to give up smoking,but were relying on it as a stress reliever or anxiety buster - in fact smoking had caused these disturbances in the first place.
Professor Paul Aveyard commented that many patients would claim that they were too stressed to give up smoking, and now doctors would be able to give evidence that stopping would help relieve stress.
If you need help with stopping smoking,or in dealing with any of the symptoms named above,then please look at the Effective Hypnosis page, or www.effectivehypnosis.co.uk/home
