New report finds smoking is a cause of depression and schizophrenia

The evidence presented today at the Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress, has been shared with the government which is currently developing a new Tobacco Control Plan for publication later this year.

The congress will also be given new data on the numbers of smokers with mental health conditions. Rates of smoking are much higher among people with mental health conditions than those without, and among England’s 6 million smokers there are an estimated:

230k smokers with severe mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder)

6 million with depression and anxiety

These analyses are timely as the government is currently considering recommendations by the Khan Review for the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan to deliver its Smokefree 2030 ambition. The independent review by Javed Khan was commissioned by the Secretary of State to help the Government to identify the most impactful interventions to reduce the uptake of smoking, and support people to stop smoking, for good. One of Khan’s 15 recommendations was that action is needed to tackle the issue of smoking and mental health.