Vaping, Nicotine and Mental Health
In the lead up to No Smoking Day the British Heart Foundation release the results of a study – could the electronic alternative to smoking be the solution?
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by Dave Cross
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Professor John Britton, a supporter of vaping as a harm reduction approach, was involved with the exceptionally thorough report released by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in 2013. In Smoking and Mental Health the team concluded that not only are people suffering from mental health problems more likely to smoke but also they are more probable to smoke more than other smokers.
They concluded that encouraging these smokers to take up a harm reduction program involving NRT products would bring a dual benefit of increasing the health of the individuals and also reduce costs to the NHS.
The problem has been that while smoking rates have dropped in the rest of the population they remain resolutely static in this group. This has been attributed to two major factors: people with mental health struggle more with quitting and are more prone to relapsing back to smoking.
There are a number of reports of the medical benefits of nicotine but high rates of traditional smoking is linked to the onset of schizophrenia, depression, and recently Alzheimer’s and dementia. When you compare this to findings that smoking cessation can lead to a sevenfold increase in the chances of depression recurring it is clear there is no simple answer.
Despite anecdotal evidence on social media that vaping has helped to control metal health episodes the subject remains confusing. The RCP advises that cigarettes can cause adverse effects, exasperating conditions, when used in conjunction with antidepressants, antipsychotics (especially clozapine, olanzapine and haloperidol), benzodiazepines (diazepam) and opiates (methadone). It is unclear if the link is between nicotine itself or the chemical soup of smoke.
Professor Robert West, in a paper published on Smoking In Britain, said: “It is...possible that a psychoactive compound other than nicotine in cigarettes lead to impairment of health. There are no obvious candidates for this, however.”
It is a shame given that he is fully aware of the recent research demonstrating a substantially reduced level of nicotine addiction in vapers – and indications that smoking addiction has more to do with the other components of traditional smoke in conjunction with nicotine rather than the substance on its own.
Even if the cause is unclear, there is little to debate about his conclusion that “quitting smoking could be the key to improving not only your physical health, but your mental health too.” To this end electronic cigarettes would appear to be an ideal tool for mental health patients given its similarity to the process of smoking and ability to gradually reduce nicotine content.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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