As reported in today’s Los Angeles Times, a controversial report has been published on smokers and sheds light on why so few are quiting after millions gave up the habit in the eighties.

The report’s findings show that smokers are 4.7 times as likely than the population at large to suffer from major depression (for those of you wondering, 470% is considered statistically significant). From this observation, the authors propose that the folks who still smoke are essentially too depressed to quit. It should be noted that other reports that have shown smokers to be more liable to struggle with anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, ADD, and other psychological maladies. With the millions of dollars being thrown at nicotine patches, workshops, lasers, and other treatments to stop smoking, maybe what smokers need most is a hug and a prozac.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2005 at 8:51 am by Insider and is filed under Brilliant, but uncategorizable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.