Sunday, May 9, 2010

DEPRESSED PEOPLE SMOKE MORE, QUIT LESS

AS DEPRESSION DEEPENS,
CIGARETTE SMOKING INCREASES

WASHINGTON (Health News) - Depressed people are much more likely to smoke than people who aren't depressed, the CDC (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control) finds. And the number of cigarettes people smoke increases as their depression deepens. Here are some other key findings for adults age 20 and older from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2005-2008: (a) 48% of women and 40% of men with severe depression are smokers. Among people who are not depressed, 17% of women and 25% of men are smokers. (b) More than half of depressed smokers light up within five minutes of waking. Only 30% of smokers who aren't depressed do this. (c) Nearly twice as many depressed smokers as non-depressed smokers average more than a pack of cigarettes each day (28% vs. 15%). (d) In every age group, depressed people were less likely to have quit smoking than people who weren't depressed. (e) Depressed people are more likely to have tried smoking than non-depressed people.

According to the study, 7 % of the population suffers from some degree of depression. In the 40-54 year old category there were more depressed smokers than in any other age group. The findings don't prove that depression causes smoking, or that smoking causes depression, but it states that people who are anxious and depressed will turn to drugs at a higher rate than others. This government study shows there's a strong link between depression and cigarette smoking, for example: smokers suffering depression grab for that first cigarette of the day sooner than smokers who aren't depressed. Among people who aren't depressed, women are less likely to smoke than men are. But depressed women smoke as much as depressed men.



According to the World Health Organization (WHO) depression is a disease that is expanding more in this world. The well-known addictive effect of nicotine to the smoker does not help to overcome its state of frustration. Giving a new deep meaning to our existence would be to try to understand our eternal spiritual identity.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Life is very difficult, there are problems at each step; but the biggest problems are found within ourselves. Depression is the product of no knowing what our real identity is. ... We should not think that depression can be counteracted by the invention of new psychiatric medicines. In accordance with the most ancient scriptures of wisdom, the Vedas, the purpose of life is to understand and realise our eternal spiritual identity: atato brahma jijnasa. Depression is not an incurable illness, but our materialistic society is very far from knowing how to cure it because it is materialism that is the very cause of the illness. The cure is in the timeless, deep wisdom that is found in the company of those who have dedicated their lives to spiritual understandings and practices.



Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“The Illness of the Century - Depression”
“Vedic Wisdom Collection”
http://www.vedic-wisdom.org/
http://vedicwisdom.weebly.com/
http://www.sabiduriavedica.org/sv.php?id=49_57

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