Is cigarette addiction considered a mental illness?

Answer 1

There have been opinions about this by doctors, but what the thesis doesn't tell you is they have not done a proper controlled study of humans. They have taken only people suffering from mental illness. Of course many of these people smoke, but also, some of them don't smoke, do drugs or alcohol and sometimes it's because of the environment they were in or they are trying to deaden the anxiety they must surely feel. There is absolutely no validity to the fact people who smoke are connected with mental illness. Tobacco has been around since at least Biblical times, and during WW1, WWII and Vietnam, smoking was accepted and it made the person feel relaxed. There was no big deal back then when people smoked and many teens (myself included) picked up the habit around their peers. Back in those days the tobacco was pure, but tobacco companies (working with the U.S. and Canadian governments) started to put chemicals into the tobacco to hook teens and thus more sales for the tobacco companies and more revenue for the government. Suddenly some governments around the world are trying to blame the tobacco companies (stabbing them in the back because remember, these governments knew about these chemicals added to the tobacco) and to take the heat off themselves and they are now blaming smokers for everything down to the boil on a person's butt. Be aware! The tides could turn on non-smokers more than they can ever realize. If you go into your doctor (with a poor health care system such as the U.S. and Canada) they could simply say if you aren't a smoker then it's secondhand smoke! They don't stop to let you know what quality of air you are breathing from an over abundance of car exhausts, trucks, buses, etc., not to mention factories, and hey, how about this one ... they want to burn coal again! If in doubt get up in the morning, take a white paper towel and clean off your car windshield and you'll see what you are breathing in. It's one ugly scene and it has nothing to do with smokers. If non-smokers would spend 1/8th the time of fighting for better air quality all around instead of blaming smokers and being rude about it (whining) then they would be a far better planet. By shouting, name-calling towards smokers is doing more harm than good and if you don't know about something then you should learn the history of it and instead of whining help smokers! Radio shows came on (nurses came on those shows as well as other medical staff) and said there was no correlation with all lung cancers and smoking because many of the patients they treated with lung cancer never smoked! I told my husband "Just watch, the next thing you will hear is secondhand smoke is the culprit for society's woes." Even the B.C. Lung Assoc., has told white lies and I called them (have it on tape) and their percentages are merely "guesstimates" with no validity to their statement. I rest my case! There is absolutely no proof that cigarette smoke causes many of the diseases they would have you believe or, that secondhand smoke will shave years off your life if you are a non-smoker. They lie about the percentages of people that still go to the pubs for that beer and that just as many (if not more) patrons are coming in because there is no smoking. I for one (among others) did a survey in Vancouver and in my hometown asking if the percentage of patrons were the same or more since the no smoking law came in and there was a 30 - 37% loss of customers and it was hurting their business. Thus, we now have "smoking rooms" or you can smoke outside on a summer afternoon or evening. By no means am I stating that smoking is good for one, but neither are pill poppers for Valium, etc., or alcohol or food junkies. I warned people that if they didn't fight for their rights (including smokers, but having a place to smoke so it's fair to the non-smokers) the next thing the governments would be telling us is that there are too many fat people and here you have it folks! It's started! Our governments are dictating what we smoke, drink, eat, and if you are fat you may just well not get that operation you need. I received a phone call asking if I would considered leaving my organs after I'm deceased. I told them I was a smoker and no I wasn't leaving my organs. I got "Oh, that's OK!!!!" You can't have it both ways, either a smoker is the walking dead and you don't want to leave your organs or smokers are not as bad as one has others believe and want those organs. I am in the process of trying to quit smoking and it's difficult. If my government truly cared for my health then why don't they put their money where their mouths are like New Zealand and pay for the patches or any aid to help one get over the rough spots of smoking? Simple, they don't care! We have to be so careful not to have a Dictatorship in our governments, that things such as smoking can work with non-smokers (having another place for smokers to go too if they want a cigarette) and, that people have the constitutional right to eat what they want and not have a government tell them they are too fat. We are adults and should be able to make our own choices. Last time I looked I wasn't in a Communist country!

Answer 2

Yes. Cigarettes affect dopamine and norepenefrin levels, two chemicals that regulate moods.