Mental health patients ‘smoke three times as much’

BBC News (6/4, Kotecha) reports that a survey conducted by Public Health England and the National Health Service suggests that patients in UK mental healthcare units “smoke more than three times as much as the general population.” The PHE/NHS survey of 105 care units “suggests 64% of mental-health patients are addicted to tobacco – compared with 18% of the general population.” Experts caution that “smoking can increase depression and anxiety and reduce the effectiveness of medication by up to 50%.” PHE would like to have all psychiatric hospitals become “smoke-free.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health patients ‘smoke three times as much’,” Sima Kotecha, BBC News, June 4, 2015.

Posted in In The News.