Smoking as Mental Health: A New Approach to Quitting Outside Nottingham Hospitals"

Addiction Economy Thought for Today - thought to highlight this new initiative with dedicated officers offering advice and help quitting to people smoking outside Nottingham Hospitals, despite it being illegal to smoke there.

Back to our post of yesterday about addiction being a mental health issue and an 'act of self-care gone wrong', people also need psychological support to help understand the root cause of the problem and understand the triggers which keep them hooked.

Nicely put by 64 year old Brian Dinnell who has smoked from aged 11, and one of those offered the help:

"It's a serious addiction," he added. If you're an alcoholic or drug addict – you can go to your doctor and get help, but if you're a smoker, they just want to chuck a few patches at you. They don't work for everybody – it's like any illness. It needs to be tailored to the individual".

They will perhaps just be pushing vapes instead of patches, and as the article says will need help quitting that too, but it looks like it is being considered an issue needing mental health support instead of just a pharma solution which must be welcomed.

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