Research has shown that smoking tobacco is more common among people with mental illness, especially depression and schizophrenia. However, until now, there has been no evidence for cause-and-effect and in which direction. A new study published in Psychological Medicine poses the question, does mental illness increase the likelihood of smoking, or is smoking itself a risk factor for mental illness?
The study led by the University of Bristol’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group with support from the University of Bristol’s MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit and the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre has found that smoking tobacco may increase risk of developing depression and schizophrenia.
