Smoking is often seen as a highly sociable activity. In fact, many smokers say that they cannot quit this harmful habit because of the social aspect of it. However, scientists have shown that cigarettes don’t reduce people’s risk of loneliness.
A new research from UCL revealed that smokers may become more socially isolated as they age, which is a huge blow to that “sociable habit” myth.
Smoking is sometimes viewed as a highly sociable activity, but studies have shown that it doesn't help battling loneliness. Image credit: Santeri Viinamäki via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
When the COVID-19 pandemic started and hit us with its full force, many people actually quit smoking. This was because they used this opportunity to better themselves or had to avoid social interactions and thus didn’t feel safe smoking. However, it might be that social situations encourage smoking and not the other way around. Smoking may not reduce a smoker's chances of loneliness, especially as they get older.
Scientists analyzed data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The sample size was 8,780 people aged 50 years and older in England. Researchers evaluated participants’ isolation and loneliness over the period of 12 years. Contrary to a popular belief, smokers were actually more isolated and lonely than non-smokers. They had less frequent social interactions, less frequent engagements with people from their environment. In fact, smokers more commonly started living alone as they aged. And all of that added up to a feeling of loneliness and social isolation. Scientists had other factors, such as age, sex, and socioeconomic status, in their mind, but even accounting for them didn’t change the result of this study – smokers were lonelier as they aged.
Why is that? Well, scientists don’t have enough data to figure out the causation. It was just an observational study. However, it might be that smokers were closer to other smoking people who either quit or died with time. Furthermore, smokers usually have worse physical condition, which prevents them from partaking in various challenging physical activities (sports, hikes, dances). In addition to that, smoking has been associated with a higher risk of mental health problems like anxiety and depression, which are definitely not improving someone’s chances of socializing.
So what can you do if you’re a smoker and don’t want to grow old lonely? Well, quit smoking. Dr Daisy Fancourt, co-author of the study, said: “As the last two years have highlighted, social isolation and loneliness have wide-ranging negative effects on our mental health and wellbeing. As people set New Year’s resolutions for 2022, this provides another reason for stopping smoking to be on the list.”
There are thousands of free resources for people who wish to quit smoking. Use them and try improving yourself, your health and your social situation in 2022. Loneliness is associated with a greater risk of mental disorders as well as premature death.
Source: UCL