More troops on smokeless tobacco after deployment
MILITARY TOBACCO USE STILL HIGH
Past studies have found that while tobacco use in the military is declining, it’s still higher when compared to the U.S. public as a whole. In 2005, almost 15 percent of military personnel said they’d used smokeless tobacco in the past year - versus just three percent of Americans overall.
“Smoking is the thing that everyone talks about,” Hermes said. “But there’s also smokeless tobacco, and it seems to be related to the stress of combat.”
Whether some troops are “treating” their stress with tobacco, or whether the tobacco somehow feeds the stress is not entirely clear, according to Hermes. “There’s still a chicken-and-egg question,” he said.
How Are PTSD and Smoking Related?
This question is difficult to answer as researchers are only beginning to conduct studies that examine the relationship between smoking and PTSD. However, there is some evidence that individuals with PTSD may smoke in an attempt to manage negative feelings or their PTSD symptoms.
There is also some evidence that smoking may increase the risk for the development of certain anxiety disorders, including PTSD. One study found that people who were dependent on nicotine were twice as likely to develop PTSD following exposure to a traumatic event.
But the findings suggest that doctors treating military personnel should ask not only about smoking habits, but any use of the smokeless forms of tobacco, Hermes said.
Tobacco products are widely available at U.S. military bases. A 2009 study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs recommended a phased-in ban on tobacco on military property. But whether that will ever happen remains up in the air.
SOURCE: Addiction, online January 23, 2012
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Smokeless tobacco use related to military deployment, cigarettes and mental health symptoms in a large, prospective cohort study among US service members
Eric D. A. Hermes,
Timothy S. Wells,
Besa Smith,
Edward J. Boyko,
Gary G. Gackstetter,
Shannon C. Miller,
Tyler C. Smith,
Millennium Cohort Study Team
Article first published online: 23 JAN 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03737.x