Mental health service users need more help to stub out smoking

Posted: Tuesday 26 June 2007

70 per cent of people in mental health inpatient units smoke
51 per cent of people with bipolar disorder smoke 20 cigarettes a day compared to just 8 per cent of the general population

Mental health charity Mind is calling on the Government to provide mental health service users with tailored and accessible support to help them quit smoking ahead of the smoking ban.

People who experience mental distress are twice as likely to smoke than the general public, with 50 per cent of people with schizophrenia and 51 per cent of those with bipolar disorder smoking 20 cigarettes a day, compared to just 8 per cent of the general population. They also tend to be more dependent, and have more difficulty in quitting.

On Sunday 1 July, the 70 per cent of people in mental health inpatient units who smoke will be restricted to smoking in either designated rooms or their own bedrooms. However, from July 2008 smoking will be prohibited - for any inpatient staying up to six months, whilst the general public can continue to smoke in their own homes and prison inmates enjoy exemption from the ban.

Mind Chief Executive Paul Farmer said: "Admission to an inpatient unit can be an extremely distressing experience, and forcing service users to stop smoking at a time of crisis could dramatically heighten feelings of anxiety. If people are to be deprived of their liberty in this way, in what is essentially their home for half a year, then the Government must act now to provide appropriate smoking cessation treatments to give service users the support they need."

Mind is also concerned that patients who voluntarily use inpatient services, may be deterred from seeking the help they need as they will not wish to be coerced into quitting smoking.

As Mind publishes its new factsheet today Smoking, giving up and mental health, it is calling for the following actions to be taken over the next year:

Service users should be offered a range of smoking cessation services to help support them ahead of the smoking ban. These must be easily accessible and appropriate to the needs of people who experience mental distress.
Mental health inpatients often smoke in order to socialise or to alleviate boredom. Inpatient units should offer recreational and education activities to provide an alternative to smoking.
Mental health staff need to be provided with training to allow them to best support inpatients attempting to quit smoking. It is currently up to individual Primary Care Trusts and mental health units to decide what level of support will be offered.
Female mental health nurses smoke twice as much as non-mental health nurses, and it is important that they too are offered help in stopping smoking.
Research should be undertaken to determine which strategies are most effective in reducing or stopping smoking in inpatient environments.

Worryingly, while general smoking rates are falling, this is not the case for people with mental health problems, who suffer poor physical health as a consequence and are more likely to die from smoking related diseases. A report by the Disability Rights Commission (1) has shown that they are much more likely to have major physical health problems, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, respiratory disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Paul Farmer added: "Many mental health service users smoke to alleviate feelings of stress and depression, however research has shown that smoking actually increases anxiety levels. Despite this, smokers with mental health problems are less likely to be offered smoking cessation services than the general public."

Notes to editors

1) Equal Treatment: Closing the Gap (2006)