Quitting Smoking: Your Support Guide

You’ve been thinking about quitting for a while now. You know that smoking is not doing you any good. But before you delve into your personalised strategies for success, it’s worth reminding yourself of some of the benefits of quitting

Why quit smoking?

APPEARANCE AND WELLBEING

• You can look better – with clearer skin and fewer lines.

• Any yellowing of your teeth can begin to fade. You can smell better – with fresher breath, hair and clothes. Your family, friends and co-workers can be delighted!

• You can feel better – you may have more energy than you’ve had in a long time.

• You can rediscover tastes and smells – you can be amazed at what you’ve been missing. You can have more control over your life – smoking won’t dictate what you do each day.

FINANCES

You can have more money – a lot more – in your pocket.Smoking 20 cigarettes a day costs around £83.93 a week and £4,364.36 a year.* Think of all you could do with that extra cash. And all you could do for your family.

*Excluding spending on nicotine replacement therapy. Money saving assumptions are based on cutting out all daily cigarette using an average price of £11.99 per 20 pack (ONS, Jan 2021).

FAMILY AND HOME

Your family and friends can breathe cleaner air and can be at less risk of health problems from your second-hand smoke. Your home can look and smell cleaner – with no dirty ashtrays to wash or to tempt you.

HEALTH

• You can feel fitter because your circulation can improve physical activity.

• You can start to reduce your risk of heart disease and most forms of cancer – it’s not just your lungs that are affected by smoking.

• If you are a woman and planning a family, you can increase your chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby. Smoking increases the risk of pregnancy complications, low birth weight babies, and your baby being born prematurely.

• If you are a man and planning a family, it’s worth knowing that smoking can affect your sperm, which can reduce fertility.

Smoking and mental health

The incidence of smoking among those living with mental illness is nearly double that of the general population, and is nearly triple in those with severe mental health conditions (such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder)¹.Those with severe mental illness have a life expectancy 10-20 years less than the general population¹. Smoking is a common risk factor among these individuals, also being one of the causes of cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer².

QUITTING SMOKING IS BENEFICIAL FOR BOTH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH:

• From 72 hours after quitting smoking, the respiratory function of a smoker may start to improve, which can help to increase their capacity for physical activity³. Longer term, quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing COPD, respiratory infections and can improve treatment outcomes in asthmatic and established COPD patients⁴.

• The risk of diseases including coronary heart disease and stroke begins to decrease after only one to two years of quitting smoking, and can approach that of a non-smoker following 10-15 years of sustained abstinence^3,4.

• Studies have highlighted a potential link between quitting smoking and a reduction in levels of depression, anxiety and stress⁵.

1. Public Health England. Health Matters: smoking and mental health (2020). Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-smoking-andmental-health/health-matters-smoking-and-mental-health [Accessed March 2022]

2. World Health Organisation. Tobacco use and mental health conditions: A policy brief (2020). Available at: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_ file/0009/429939/Tobacco-Mental-Health-Policy-Brief.pdf [Accessed March 2022]

3. NHS Better Health. Quit smoking (2019). Available at: https://www.nhs. uk/better-health/quit-smoking/?WT.mc_D=MarchQuitSmokingPPC&gclid= EAIaIQobChMIuqv2hNun9gIVgmDmCh2EW gZbEAAYASAAEgJ07fD_ BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds [Accessed March 2022]

4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking and Tobacco Use: Benefits of Quitting (2020). Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_ smoking/how_to_quit/benefits/index.htm [Accessed March 2022]

5. Taylor GM et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013522.pub2

6. Siru R. et al., Addiction (2009);104(5):719-33

7. Action on smoking and health. Smokefree skills: Training needs of mental health nurses and psychiatrists (2020). Available at: https://ash.org.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2020/12/MHTraining_FullReport.pdf [Accessed March 2022]

8. Prochaska J & Benowitz N., Science Advances (2019);5(10)

9. Gilbody S. et al., The Lancet Psychiatry (2019);6(5):379-90

10. Emily Stockings, Alexandra Metse & Gemma Taylor. ERS Monograph: Supporting Tobacco Cessation. Chapter 15; pg 248

11. Song F. et al., PLOS ONE (2018). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205992

12. Zyambo C. et al., BMC Public Health (2019);19(1409)

13. Hunter A. et al., Curr Pharm Teach Learn (2019);11(7):696-701

14. NICE Guidelines. Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence (2021). Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng209/ chapter/Recommendations-on-treating-tobacco-dependence#stop-smokinginterventions [Accessed March 2022]

15. Cooper J. et al., Addiction (2016);111(8):1438-47