The relationship between smoking cessation and binge drinking, depression, and anxiety symptoms among smokers with serious mental illness

Background The high rates of smoking in adults with serious mental illness (SMI) increases risk for COVID-19 infection. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a smoking cessation intervention that was adapted to be offered by phone during a Shelter in Place (SIP) period in San Francisco, California, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods During the SIP, we offered counseling sessions by phone to five participants. At the end of each session, we assessed readiness to quit, tobacco cessation or reduction, and inquired about the impact of the shelter in place on smoking habits and mental health. Grounded theory guided data collection and analysis. Results The categories that emerged around barriers and facilitators for smoking cessation were COVID-19–related stressors, having purpose, structure and feelings of connections, and the importance of quitting aides for smoking cessation. Conclusion Offering telephone based smoking cessation counseling to adults with SMI while they shelter in place may improve their readiness to quit.

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STAGE PERSONA, STAND-UP COMEDY AND MENTAL HEALTH: ‘PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE’

Persona Studies ◽

10.21153/psj2019vol5no2art917 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 67-82

Author(s):

MATT HARGRAVE

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Stand Up Comedy ◽

The Subject ◽

The Relationship

This article addresses the subject of stand-up and mental health through the prism of comic persona, generating new, non-diagnostic discourses around mental illness. The article focuses on British and Australian comedians whose material addresses conditions such as bipolar disorder (John Scott), depression and anxiety (Seymour Mace; Lauren Pattison; Felicity Ward), or feigns the staging of mental collapse (Stewart Lee). Based on the analysis of live events and one-on-one interviews, the essay considers the role that persona plays in mediating the relationship between the comedian and their material, arguing that shaping persona is key to developing practices framed within a poetics of vulnerability.

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E-cigarettes and vaping – a panacea or a bane to smoking in current times?

Australasian Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1039856220950095 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 103985622095009

Author(s):

Guna Kanniah ◽

Shailesh Kumar ◽

Soumil Prasad

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Smoking Cessation ◽

Serious Mental Illness ◽

Safety Profile ◽

Tobacco Industry ◽

Electronic Cigarettes ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Nicotine Concentration ◽

The World

Objective: Use of electronic cigarettes has increased across the world in the last decade with heavy investment from the tobacco industry targeting younger population through well-designed marketing campaigns portraying e-cigarettes as harmless, less addictive and effective in smoking cessation while delivering higher nicotine concentration. The safety profile of e-cigarettes is reviewed in this paper. Conclusions: The safety of e-cigarettes and the chemicals they contain have not been evaluated rigorously. Emerging data suggest e-cigarette use could do severe harm. People with serious mental illness, already the highest nicotine consumers, could be exploited by the tobacco industry.

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Pharmacological and behavioural interventions to promote smoking cessation in adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027389 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. e027389 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Robert Pearsall ◽

Daniel J Smith ◽

John R Geddes

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Smoking Cessation ◽

Serious Mental Illness ◽

Randomised Controlled Trials ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Randomised Controlled

ObjectiveSmoking in people with serious mental illness is a major public health problem and contributes to significant levels of morbidity and mortality. The aim of the review was to systematically examine the efficacy of methods used to aid smoking cessation in people with serious mental illness.MethodA systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials to compare the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological and behavioural programmes for smoking cessation in people with serious mental illness. Electronic databases were searched for trials to July 2018. We used the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias.ResultsTwenty-eight randomised controlled trials were identified. Varenicline increased the likelihood of smoking cessation at both 3 months (risk ratio (RR) 3.56, 95% CI 1.82 to 6.96, p=0.0002) and at 6 months (RR 3.69, 95% CI 1.08 to 12.60, p=0.04). Bupropion was effective at 3 months (RR 3.96, 95% CI 1.86 to 8.40, p=0.0003), especially at a dose of 300 mg/day, but there was no evidence of effect at 6 months (RR 2.22, 95% CI 0.52 to 9.47, p=0.28). In one small study, nicotine therapy proved effective at increasing smoking cessation up to a period of 3 months. Bupropion used in conjunction with nicotine replacement therapy showed more effect than single use. Behavioural and bespoke interventions showed little overall benefit. Side effects were found to be low.ConclusionThe new information of this review was the effectiveness of varenicline for smoking cessation at both 3 and 6 months and the lack of evidence to support the use of both bupropion and nicotine products for sustained abstinence longer than 3 months. Overall, the review found relatively few studies in this population.

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