Cigarettes and depression: a vicious circle

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Extract from the article: One of the known, but often ignored, negative consequences of smoking is its impact on the smoker's mental health. Some smokers think that smoking is a good way to deal with stress and anxiety, but this is far from the case. Does smoking make you dep

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One of the known, but often ignored, negative consequences of smoking is its impact on the smoker's mental health. Some smokers think that smoking is a good way to deal with stress and anxiety, but this is far from the case. Does smoking make you depressed or are depressed people more likely to smoke often?

Depression is a very common mood disorder that can lead to a loss of interest in usual activities, a drop in mood and permanent sadness of varying intensity, and this for up to two weeks. When you suffer from depressive disorder, « you are in a state of suffering, pain and there is a loss of pleasure. One seeks ways and means to cope with this psychological suffering at all costs. And sometimes the depressed person resorts to psychoactive substances or activities (addictive behaviours), when in reality they have no therapeutic virtue. They give the circumstantial illusion of well-being; unfortunately, they will push the person even further into a mental malaise », says Dr Zinsou Selom Degboe, Clinical Psychologist/Psychotherapist at the Clinic of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology (CPPM) at the CHU Campus in Lomé.

« At the beginning, you go to smoke saying to yourself, it will make me feel good; I will think of something else. And as the cigarette contains nicotine, it will stimulate the dopamine in your brain and you will have a feeling of regaining some pleasure in life except that it is extremely ephemeral and it does not work durably and will make you dependent if the consumption is prolonged over time », added Dr. Zinsou Selom Degboe, Clinical Psychologist/Psychotherapist.

Cigarettes make you depressed

According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Jerusalem (Israel), the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and the University of Pristina (Kosovo) and published in the journal « PLOS One », tobacco, the most commonly consumed form of which is cigarettes, has harmful consequences on physical and mental health by increasing the risk of depression. And it is young people who are most affected by this phenomenon. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for depression because of the chemical effects of nicotine on the brain.

Nicotine disrupts the proper functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain, which contributes to the onset or aggravation of depression. « In concrete terms, neurotransmitters are the different vehicles that carry chemical messages from one neuronal cell to another, thus ensuring the transmission of information from the brain to other parts of the body. This disruption caused by smoking causes a dysfunction in the brain and plunges the person with a smoking problem into depression. Similarly, smoking on a regular basis and over a long period of time is a major risk factor for depression », says Dr Zinsou Selom Degboe, Clinical Psychologist.

Smoking and depression can be a risk factor for each other. « If you suffer from depression and you smoke, it is useful to consult a mental health professional to help you find mood management strategies that are not based on smoking. At the same time, if you want to stop smoking, it is wise to consult a health professional and preferably a specialist in addiction issues for better management », says Dr Zinsou Degboe. This is to help manage the withdrawal symptoms that can occur during withdrawal.

Arnaud KONDO