Why Heavy Smokers Feel Sad After Quitting Smoking

Introduction

Heavy smokers may experience sadness after quitting because early withdrawal leads to an increase in the mood-related brain protein monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), a new study by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has shown.

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This finding, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, may also explain why heavy smokers are at high risk for clinical depression.

Using an advanced brain imaging method, a team led by Senior Scientist Dr. Jeffrey Meyer discovered that MAO-A levels in the brain regions that control mood rose by 25 percent eight hours after withdrawal from heavy cigarette smoking. These levels were much higher than in a comparison group of non-smoking study participants. All 48 participants filled out questionnaires, and smokers with high brain MAO-A levels during withdrawal also reported greater feelings of sadness.

"Understanding sadness during cigarette withdrawal is important because this sad mood makes it hard for people to quit, especially in the first few days. Also, heavy cigarette smoking is strongly associated with clinical depression," said Dr. Meyer, who holds a Canada Research Chair in the Neurochemistry of Major Depression. "This is the first time MAO-A, a brain protein known to be elevated in clinical depression has been studied during cigarette withdrawal."

MAO-A "eats up" chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin, that help maintain a normal mood. When MAO-A levels are higher as in early cigarette withdrawal, it means that this removal process is overly active, making people feel sad. For this study, MAO-A was detected using a brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET). CAMH has the only PET scanner in the world dedicated solely to mental health and addiction research.

A specific substance in cigarette smoke, called harman, may be responsible for these changes, the researchers note.

During active smoking, harman attaches to MAO-A. During early withdrawal in heavy smokers who had 25 or more cigarettes a day, MAO-A levels rose rapidly to a level beyond that seen in the healthy comparison group.

"This study opens new ways to prevent sad mood during cigarette withdrawal to make it easier to quit smoking. For example, it may be possible to improve the existing cigarette filters that partially screen out harman, or regulate the amount of tryptophan contained in cigarettes, since tryptophan becomes harman when it burns," said Dr. Meyer, who is also head of the Neuro-chemical Imaging Program in Mood Disorders at CAMH's Research Imaging Center, and professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. "We also identified MAO-A as a target to shut down during the early critical stage of withdrawal with a short course of medication, but this requires further study."

"This finding may explain why heavy smokers are at high risk for clinical depression," says Dr. Anthony Phillips, Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's (CIHR's) Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, which funded this study.

The study was also supported by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, the U.S.-based Brain and Behavior Fund (formerly NARSAD), and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

The Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centers in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development, prevention and health promotion to transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Center.

Related Information

• Smoking and Mental Illness Connection: Study reveals 44.3% of cigarettes in the United States are consumed by people with forms of mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders.
• Mental Illness and Benefits of Quitting Smoking: Information methods and reasons to help quit smoking for immediate long-term health and social benefits.
• Doctors Hesitant to Ask Mentally Ill to Quit Smoking: Doctors are often afraid to ask smokers with mental illness to quit smoking as they assume their patients may get worse.
• Many Smokers With Serious Mental Illness Want to Quit Smoking: Many people with serious mental illness want to cease smoking however few get treatment or counseling to help them quit.

Attribution/Source(s):

This peer reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and published on 2011/08/04 (Edit Update: 2024/09/02), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, Center for Addiction and Mental Health can be contacted at camh.ca. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.

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Cite This Page (APA): Center for Addiction and Mental Health. (2011, August 4 - Last revised: 2024, September 2). Why Heavy Smokers Feel Sad After Quitting Smoking. Disabled World. Retrieved December 12, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/medical/pharmaceutical/addiction/depressed.php

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