Nicotine withdrawal in smokers with current depressive disorders undergoing intensive smoking cessation treatment.

Abstract

The authors investigated withdrawal in smokers with current threshold and subthreshold depressive disorders (N = 21) who were participating in a pilot study of intensive counseling interventions for smoking cessation. The majority of participants (67%) were taking antidepressants when they entered the trial. Withdrawal symptoms were compared in prolonged abstainers versus nonabstainers across a 12-week treatment period and at the 3-month follow-up assessment visit. Prolonged abstinence was associated with an increase in positive affect and a decrease in depressive symptoms and craving over time. Nonabstinence was associated with little overall change in these variables from treatment onset to the 3-month follow-up. At the 3-month follow-up, 44% of prolonged abstainers were in complete remission of their baseline depressive disorders, compared with 0% remission among nonabstainers. Findings suggest that within the context of an intensive smoking cessation intervention, some smokers with current depressive disorders may experience significant improvement in affective and craving symptoms. Findings also suggest that abstinence may be associated with improvement in affect.

Smoking, nicotine and neuropsychiatric disorders

“…Moreover, in a treatment study (NIC replacement therapy (NRT) vs. placebo), individuals on the placebo arm with a current episode of depression at baseline were significantly more likely to smoke at 12 months post-quit compared to non-depressed individuals on NRT or placebo arms or depressed individuals on NRT arm (Japuntich et al, 2007;Kinnunen et al, 2008). In contrast, those patients with a current episode of major depression who successfully stop smoking appear to have a greater chance of mood improvement compared to depressed patients who are unable to achieve abstinence (Blalock et al, 2008;Prochaska et al, 2008b). Additionally, in a recent population-based study authors found that smokers who had unsuccessfully attempted to quit in the past year experienced current depression at a higher rate than either smokers who had not attempted to quit in the past year or former smokers (successful quitters).…”

Predicting Quit Attempts Among Homeless Smokers Seeking Cessation Treatment: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

“…Likewise, studies have shown that prequit parameters of key variables are related to quit attempt initiation and smoking relapse. For instance, studies have indicated that rising negative affect during the week prior to the scheduled quit date can predict relapse months after the quit date (Blalock, Robinson, Wetter, Schreindorfer, & Cinciripini, 2008;McCarthy, Piasecki, Fiore, & Baker, 2006). One recent EMA study of a sample of domiciled smokers found that rising negative affect in the 4 days prior to the quit date was related to a greater likelihood of abstinence on the quit date (Yeh et al, 2012).…”

Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation Among Depression-Prone Pregnant and Newly Postpartum Women: Effects on Smoking Abstinence and Depression Ratings

“…21 Among non-pregnant smokers, initial case studies suggested that smoking cessation may worsen mood (e.g., Borrelli et al 22 ), while subsequent and more detailed studies suggested either a negative association between abstinence and depression risk or no association. 15,17,23 …”