Come in From the Dark…

I came in from outside to get a diet coke as I was thirsty. Out of curiosity, I decided to check my email. I received this comment tonight…

I just can't get over how much people are willing to spend on cigarettes, when they openly understand the health hazards involved.

Or how about: Don't buy cigarettes anymore and just break your habit.

That, to me, was the most shocking part of the story.

I thought I would quickly add my two cents on this subject before I head back out to my tent for an enjoyable night of listening to the radio and…OH MY GAWD, Smoking.

There have been hundreds of research studies on why so many people with schizophrenia smoke. Check it out for yourselves. Quoted from one study:

UK Mental Health Research Center, Eastern State Hospital, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.

In several countries, the prevalence of smoking among schizophrenia patients is extraordinarily high (70% or greater). A State hospital survey demonstrated that after correcting for other factors, inpatients who have schizophrenia are more likely to be smokers than are persons in the normal population or even other chronic psychiatric inpatients. These findings suggest that neuroleptic treatment and the hospital environment cannot completely explain the high prevalence of smoking. The relationship between smoking and schizophrenia may be explained by a combination of three factors. One factor is the great difficulty for schizophrenia patients to quit smoking. Another is late onset: some schizophrenia patients start to smoke after the onset of psychosis. A third is increased early onset: schizophrenia patients may start daily smoking in greater numbers during adolescence (before the onset of their psychosis) than do persons in the normal U.S. population. Daily smoking is usually considered a sign of nicotine addiction and is used by epidemiological surveys to define the prevalence of smokers (most smokers smoke daily and very few smokers do not smoke every day). The increased early onset suggests that familial factors may increase the prevalence of smoking even among patients who have not yet shown psychotic symptoms. It is hypothesized that smoking among family members in families with genetic loading for schizophrenia may be a marker for those at risk of developing schizophrenia.

I am unsure of any studies on this that exist, but I am far more likely to commit suicide due to my mental illness than dieing of smoking related ailments. Believe me. Smoking is the least of my worries these days and is a great comfort to me and helps assuage some of the symptoms of my illness.

As far as the cost is concerned, $38 dollars of cigarettes will last me quite a long time. Usually around three weeks as I have been smoking around one cigarette per hour. At least, I try to limit myself to that amount due to the costs. If I smoked according to my inclinations then I would be smoking three packs a day at an astronomical cost. I also rarely drive and can go weeks (4 or 5) on one tank of gasoline costing around $30. I am pretty sure you are probably spending more in gasoline for your vehicle in three weeks than I am spending in cigarettes during that time period. I could argue that by burning fossil fuels and contributing to possible global warming and a peak oil crisis that you are not only affecting your future health wish, but those of your children and grandchildren as well. Of course, this is supposition as you may not even own a vehicle, but I thought it was an interesting case in point.