Cigarette can not solve all Your Problems

Published on May 18, 2009 3:53 AM

Life always brings new problems and stress. There are many ways to deal with stress. Some of these ways are more unhealthy tan healthy, like smoking is.

Teenage smokers may conserve psychological problems by puffing a cigarette. For them the solution of their problems and depression is smoking. After smoking a cigarette they become calm and look at life with other eyes.

In general, smoking is supposed to calm the nerves, but recently researchers have found evidence that it might have the opposite effect.

A team from the New York's Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute found that smoking may increase the risk of some worry disorders for teens and young adults.

They found that teenagers who smoke at least one pack of cigarettes a day are at greater risk of developing agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in young adulthood. The researchers investigated 688 teenagers from New York. The teenagers were interviewed when their average age was 16, and then when their average age was 22.

When were interviewed as teenagers researchers found that 39 (6%) smoked at least 20 cigarettes per day, and 44 (6%) had anxiety disorders. But at the age of 22, the number of 20-a-day smokers had risen to 104 (15%), and the number who had anxiety disorders raised to 68 (10%).

Even after taking other factors such as temperament and alcohol and drug use into account, the researchers found that adolescents who smoked 20 cigarettes or more per day were nearly seven times more likely to develop agoraphobia during early adulthood than other people.

They were also 5.5 times more likely to suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and nearly 16 times more likely to suffer from panic disorder.

One hypothesis is that anxious people are more likely to start smoking because they think cigarettes will calm their nerves and help them in social situations. However, the researchers found that teenagers who had already developed anxiety problems were no more likely to become heavy smokers.

Another theory is that smoking may make people anxious because it damages their breathing. It may also be that one of the effects of nicotine is to generate anxiety.