Smoking and mental health:the neglected epidemic

Mary-Grace BurinskiDevelopment Lead –

Inequalities

Scotland smoke-free by…..

Signs are good…..

19741977

19801983

19861989

19921995

19982001

20042007

20102013

20162019

20222025

20282031

20342037

20400

10

20

30

40

50

60

Adult (age 16+) smoking prevalence in Scotland: 1974 to 2042from the General Household Survey, the Scottish Household Survey and

Scottish Government projections

General Household Survey, Scottish Sample (1974 - 1998)

Scottish Household Survey (1999-2014)

Scottish Government Projections (2015-2042)

Year of survey

% o

f adu

lts (1

6+) w

ho sm

oke

2034 Tar-get

Right on track

Wrong!!!!

It’s a bit more complicated:

• Smoking rates in most affluent areas of Scotland decreased by 50% since 1999– BUT decline is only 25% in most deprived areas where

smoking rates are now 4 times higher

• Around 1 in 5 children under 16 still live in a household where someone smokes

Smoking prevalence highest among patients of mental health facilities:

Upwards of 70%(Source: RCP and RPsych, 2013)

Health inequalities

People with mental health issues: • Suffer from very poor physical health outcomes• Live with more physical illness• Die at an earlier age:

– 9-20 years shorter life expectancy for people with bipolar disorder

– 10-20 years shorter life expectancy for people with schizophrenia

– 7-11 years shorter life expectancy for people with recurrent depression

These deaths are largely preventable

What are we doing?

Need to accept that smoking is part of the problem

• Scotland’s current mental health strategy runs out at the end of 2015

• Development of the new strategy is underway

This gives us the opportunity to address the impact of physical health – in particular smoking – on the lives of people with mental health issues.

We need to do this:

Mary-Grace BurinskiDevelopment Lead – Inequalities

ASH Scotland8 Frederick Street

EdinburghEH2 2HB

mburinski@ashscotland.org.ukTel: 0131 225 4725