Vaping and Mental Health

A new study from the Cochrane Library has found that there are benefits to user’s mental health in the process of quitting smoking. In the same breath, a new study in the journal of Nicotine and Tobacco Research, says that vaping has the potential to help those suffering with schizophrenia.

Smoking rates in people with anxiety and depression has stayed at a constant rate in relation to the falling rates of the rest of the smoking populous. Experts have been calling for NHS mental health units to take on a more pragmatic approach to smoking cessation, including promoting the switch over to vaping.

In its latest review, the researchers at Cochrane found that, when compared with continuing smokers, people who had successfully stopped smoking showed greater reductions in anxiety, depression and other mental health problems.

The team studied the potential for high-nicotine e-cigarettes to work as a smoking cessation solution for those suffering with schizophrenia and found the following: “An estimated 60%–90% of people with schizophrenia smoke, compared with 15%–24% of the general population, exacerbating the already high morbidity and mortality rates observed in this population.”

Even with the small sample size, they discovered that 40% of smokers had quit by the end of the 3 month study period, while the rest managed to cut their smoking intake by as much as 75%, from 25 down to 6 a day.

They concluded: “A high strength nicotine e-cigarette has the potential to help people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders to quit or reduce smoking. Further research with a larger sample and a comparator group is needed. The results provide useful information and direction to augment the existing body of knowledge on smoking cessation for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.”

What do you guys think? If you have any mental health issues, does vaping aid you in some way?

Love, Supergood.