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Originally Posted by SlackDad
Oh the hypocrisy, the hypocrisy: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/pol...icle323342.ece
Just read a couple of articles in today's IoS that are relevant to this discussion.
Firstly, David Hockney suggests that, "we have become so scared of dying that we are forgetting to how to live". Wise words indeed.
Secondly, Oliver James says, "Fully three-quarters of people with some history of depression become depressed after they quit, compared with only 30 percent pf people with no such history. Overall, 80 per cent of smokers use it as a drug of solace to self-medicate emotional problems...." <snipped> |
Thing is, the brain is known to reduced production of its own antidepressants when it starts to get a regular supply of nicotine. It's therefore not surprising that people can suffer depression in numbers after quitting - the nicotine is gone, and the brain has given up on its own production so there's nothing to plug the gap.
The long-term aim of a policy like this is to reduce the number of people who take up smoking in the first place. If that happens, the number of people with brains deficient in natural antidepressant (someone tell me what its called!) would reduce.
And besides, if tobacco is recognised as a form of medication for dealing with depression ... given the choice, were I to find myself in the position of being clinically depressed, I would hope that my psychiatrist might prescribe me some medication with slightly less fatal side effects than tobacco. Somehow, were tobacco discovered tomorrow and put forward as a drug for treating depression, I couldn't see NICE recommending it being provided on the NHS.
