psychotherapy:

New government data suggests that depression and smoking may be more intertwined than previously known. The new survey data suggests that people with depression are more likely to be smokers than those without.

According to government data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) taken from 2005 to 2008, 43 percent of adult smokers age 20 and older have depression.

Among men ages 40 to 54, a majority — 55 percent — of those who smoke have depression. Among women ages 20 to 39 who smoke, about 50 percent have depression. The same survey data showed that about 7 percent of adults aged 20 and over had depression.

The proportion of adults who were current smokers tended to increase with an increase in depression severity. Even persons with mild depressive symptoms below the threshold for the diagnosis of depression were more likely to be smokers than people with no depressive symptoms.

Adults with depression were more likely to smoke over a pack a day and smoke their first cigarette within 5 minutes of waking up — indicators of heavy smoking. Heavy smoking is highly correlated with inability to quit.

Those with depression had a higher rate of smoking initiation (ever smoking) as well as a lower quit rate. They were also heavier smokers than persons without depression. Individuals with other mental illnesses have similar smoking patterns. Studies have shown that persons with depression and other mental illnesses smoke a disproportionate share of all the cigarettes consumed in the United States.