Many tobacco users with mental illness say they want to quit but they can’t right now because they have other “more important” things to deal with. The reality is that if you have mental illness, quitting tobacco can actually be one of the ways to help manage your symptoms. It may seem unrelated, but quitting tobacco is the one best thing that someone with mental health problems can do to improve their overall health.
Tobacco use can affect your mental health in many ways. You may experience stigma as a tobacco user in addition to the stigma of having a mental health diagnosis. Tobacco also impacts how psychiatric medicines are processed in the body and may affect how well they work. Tobacco use can also be a trigger for other substance use like heavy drinking, which can affect your mental health.
The fact that you are here on EX means quitting is on your mind. That’s great! In the next few weeks, we will post several more blogs to help you become an EX tobacco user. A few of the things we’ll cover:
- How quitting tobacco use can improve mental health
- Myths about quitting and mental health
- How to cope with your mental illness without tobacco
- Using quit medications with a mental health condition
Questions? Comments? Please share your thoughts below about your experience. We look forward to continuing the conversation with you!
Michael V. Burke, Ed.D
Program Director and NDC Counselor/ CTTS
