Breathing in Second-Hand Smoke Can Cause Mental Illness

Did you know more than 60 percent of children, ages 3 to 11-years-old are exposed to second-hand smoke? The affects of second-hand smoke may be damaging to their mental health as it has been linked to cause anxiety, ADHD, and depression.In a recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, researchers looked at nearly 3,000 children, ages 8 to 15. They examined the affects of second-hand smoke by measuring the amount of continie in the child's system. Cotinie is a chemical made from nicotine found in cigarette smoke that shows how much cigarette smoke enters the body. The children were also given a questionnaire from the National Institute of Mental Health's Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children to see what current mental disorders they possessed.

After the study was conducted, the researchers found that higher levels of continine were linked to symptoms of emotional/behavioral problems such as generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD, conduct disorder, and major depressive disorder.

Los Angeles Times reports, "none of those symptoms added up to a single diagnosis of a mental health disorder that could be linked with exposure to second-hand smoke in the children and teens in the study." The authors of the study agreed that a child's psychiatric history is not controlled. Even still, this research increases evidence that second-hand smoke negatively affects a child's health. It has been shown that second-hand smoke increases the risk of stillbirth and congenital birth defects in nonsmoking pregnant women according to Time Magazine.

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The Link Between Anxiety and Teen Drinking

MSNBC reported on a new study in the journal “Alcohol and Alcoholism” that shows that teens with generalized anxiety disorder may drink more than other teens. The authors of the study, a group of Finnish researchers from the University of Tampere, found that these same teens are also more likely to be using alcohol two years later.

Of the teens participating in the study, 65 percent of those with anxiety who said they drank weekly at the start of the study were still drinking weekly two years later; 55 percent of those without the disorder reported still drinking weekly.

While other factors also influence teen alcohol use, including genetics and family, especially parental, use of alcohol, the study points to the need to educate teens about both mental health and the effects of using alcohol and other drugs. If a teen has more information about mental health issues, he or she may be able to seek help from a professional if a problem arises, rather than turning to alcohol to self-medicate. More knowledge about the effects of alcohol could also make teens realize that drinking is not a solution to problems.

Parental involvement is also important – if parents notice that their child seems anxious, they should talk to him or her before alcohol use enters the picture, and if a teen is already drinking, his or her parents should look out for signs that indicate that an underlying anxiety problem is causing that behavior.


-Alyssa Flisiak