Smoking does not make you happy: study

Washington, Mar 8 (UNI) A recent research has shown that smoking does not make you happy and is associated with poor quality of life.

England researchers looked at the relationship between smoking and psychological well-being. They found smokers experienced lower average levels of pleasure and life satisfaction compared with non-smokers. The difference was even more pronounced in smokers from lower socio-economic groups, they added.

The study, carried out by Dr Iain Lang at the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England, involved 9176 individuals aged 50 or over.

It categorised people as never-smokers, ex-smokers and current smokers, and used household wealth as an indicator for socio-economic position.

''We found no evidence to support the claim that smoking is associated with pleasure, either in people from lower socio-economic groups or in the general population,'' Dr Lang said ''People may feel like they're getting pleasure when they smoke a cigarette but in fact smokers are likely to be less happy overall, the pleasure they feel from having a smoke comes only because they're addicted,'' Sciencedaily quoted him as saying.

''These results show smoking doesn't make you happy. In fact, it is associated with poor overall quality of life. Anyone thinking of giving up smoking should understand that quitting will be better for them in terms of their well-being as well as their physical health in the long run,'' he added.

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