A new study released Monday by the University of Wisconsin says anxiety disorders make it more difficult for smokers to quit the habit.
The study focused on whether treatments work the same way for everyone, said Assistant Professor of general internal medicine Megan Piper, and found those with anxiety disorders have a more difficult time quitting.
“People with a history of panic attacks, social anxiety disorder or generalized anxiety simply didn’t respond to any of the treatments,” Piper said.
Of the 1,504 participants, 1,455 had a history of panic attack, 199 met criteria for social anxiety and 99 meet the requirements for generalized anxiety, while some people also had more than one disorder, Piper said.
At six months post-quit, 39 percent of the 891 who did not have a disorder or history of a disorder quit smoking, while the percentages of quitters with anxiety disorders were significantly lower.
The treatments included six sessions of counseling, lozenge, nicotine patch, Zyban and combinations of those treatments.
For smokers with a history of anxiety disorders or those diagnosed with one during the study, Piper said counseling proved to be the only way they could quit.
Piper said government guidelines state the best way for people to quit smoking is through medicine and coaching, but the results of the study prove these guidelines wrong.
“We have a massive amount of people who medicine isn’t helping,” Piper said, “We need to revise what we recommend people to do.”
Piper said the study’s impact on UW could help raise awareness about the challenges facing smokers who try to quit.
One UW Student said quitting is not for her.
“I’ve tried everything from the patch to a hypnotist,” UW senior Kat Chezet said. “It might work for an hour, a day at the most, but then I’m right back to buying another pack.”
However, UW senior Jeroge Thompson blamed the stress of school on his inability to quit.
“Each time midterms come around or papers are due, I find myself smoking,” Thompson said. “It’s school that stresses me out and makes me smoke.”
