Smoking doesn't make you happy
If you are planning to ignore the messages of national No Smoking Day on 12th March by claiming that smoking is one of the few pleasures left to you, then recent research from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England may make you think again.
Extensive research carried out by Dr Iain Lang at the Peninsula Medical School looked at the relationship between smoking and psychological wellbeing. Dr Lang and colleagues used a measure of quality of life called the CASP-19 and found that smokers experienced lower average levels of pleasure and life satisfaction compared with non-smokers. The difference was even more pronounced in smokers from lower socio-economic groups.
In short – smoking doesn’t make you happy.
Dr. Lang and his team carried out a study involving 9176 individuals aged 50 or over, who took part in ELSA, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The studies for the research categorised people as never-smokers, ex-smokers and current smokers, and used household wealth as an indicator for socio-economic position.
Said Dr. Lang: “We found no evidence to support the claim that smoking is associated with pleasure, either in people from lower socio-economic groups or in the general population.”
He added: “People may feel like they’re getting pleasure when they smoke a cigarette but in fact smokers are likely to be less happy overall – the pleasure they feel from having a smoke comes only because they’re addicted. These results show smoking doesn’t make you happy – in fact, it is associated with poorer overall quality of life. Anyone thinking of giving up smoking should understand that quitting will be better for them in terms of their well-being – as well as their physical health – in the long-run.”
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Smoking doesn't make you happy
And I suppose too, that children who demonstrate “specific patterns of aberrant behavior†and whose brains exhibit “disrupted social information processing, lower social competence and significantly higher levels of aggressive/destructive behavior and stubborn defiance†chose to be born to mothers who smoke rather than mothers who don’t smoke.
Above from a recent NIDA study. Addicts are the world's greatest rationalizers.
Vicarious Living
It seems to me that the only way to be sure is to light up and smoke cigarettes for a month. Of course, no research group is ever going to advocate that.
It's similar to me attacking the actions of another person without ever having walked a mile in his/her shoes.
Cigarettes are a personal experience and the only way to judge its' effects are by inhaling for a period of time. No one on the outside looking in is ever going to understand that. Just saying...
As a smoker, the best thing I can do is to make sure that those close to me don't get started. After a generation or two, this issue becomes moot if smokers and non-smokers could at least agree on that. Otherwise, the backlash effect (from personal attacks against smokers) have the opposite effect.
who funded it?
I'd like to know exactly who funded this dodgy research? This is a question one should always ask before making any judgment!
oh please
smoking is not good for me, but I did get a buzz initially and I can feel my tension go away when I smoke now. I don't think smoking makes me happy.
I agree
With the poster that said that smoking is more likely to be associated with people with lower baseline levels of happiness. This seems to be the case, in fact, from my own personal experiences.
And, no, I am not a smoker.
Smoking doesn't make you happy
Many smokers will scoff at this story. They're absolutely convinced that smoking relaxes them and makes them more happy. Unfortunately many of them are also convinced that they are not addicted, and that the dangers of smoking are greatly exagerrated. I'm not sure what anyone can say to them to get them to pay attention to reality.
I think the article is a bit
I think the article is a bit wrong as you could understand that people are getting unhappy because they smoke. In fact, people smoke because they are unhappy.
*sigh*
Does anyone else think that like, uh, maybe there is a possibility that people with lower baseline levels of happiness might be more likely to smoke and more prone to dependency (as with any other drug)?
And no, controlling for socio-economic group alone is not enough.
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