Facts about smoking: a lot of people do it; Facts about mental distress: a lot of people feel it.

I just read something which made me smile in a sort of "I'm so fucking tired I can't even be arsed to be annoyed" sort of way (a unique response perhaps...or even a sign of pathology to some cunt psychiatrist).

"
Almost half of total tobacco consumption and smoking-related deaths occur in people who experience mental distress
"

Well of course. If 1 in 4 people in a year experience mental distress then how many do you think experience it in a lifetime? Easily half perhaps? That's what the only study I've seen which attempted to estimate this said.

What may be true is that the mentally ill have continued to keep smoking while the automotons, those who are docile sheep and do what they're told, have stopped more often.

What may also be true is that the mentally ill are as smart as the smartest psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies. The neurotransmitter norepinephrine is released by tobacco smoking. It is also the one which drugs like sodium venlaflaxine, the best pharmacological option for treatment resistant depression, also uses this neurotransmitter to achieve it's effect. It's been guessed that people with schizophrenia smoke to help deal with the negative symptoms of the supposed illness. People are self-medicating. They're healing themselves better than physicians could. The problem is they only have access to cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs. The same as everyone else. They don't use research. They use a higher quality of evidence. What works for them.

For fucks sake. Legalise drugs so people can get access to safe versions of these forms of self-medication.

--  Don't let justice be the privilege of the elite. Support the Justice for All campaign http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/