Smoking and Depression: The Dangerous Loop Affecting 1 in 3 Australian Smokers
By Michael Whelehan | Certified Master Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner | Breathe Hypnotherapy | Updated May 2026
Smoking and depression are connected in a pattern that traps millions of people in a cycle that is genuinely difficult to break. Research specific to Australia, published in PMC, found that approximately 32.4% of adult smokers in this country, almost 1 in 3, had a 12-month mental disorder at the time of survey. Depression and smoking are so deeply intertwined at a population level that understanding the relationship between the two is essential for anyone who smokes and has ever wondered why the habit feels so emotionally necessary, or why quitting can feel so emotionally destabilising. This article breaks down the science, the cycle, and what the evidence says happens to mood after quitting.
The Australian Data on Smoking and Mental Health
The relationship between smoking and depression in Australia is not a minor or marginal finding. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare confirmed in its 2022 to 2023 data that people with a mental health condition were twice as likely to smoke daily compared to people without a diagnosed mental health condition. Among those reporting high or very high levels of psychological distress, the daily smoking rate was 15.3%, compared with 6.7% for those with low distress.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners notes that people with a lifetime history of depression are twice as likely to smoke as those who have not experienced depression, and that smoking is a major health issue in this population that is frequently overlooked. Despite being one of the most well-documented intersections in public health, the smoking and depression connection receives far less attention than the cardiovascular and respiratory risks of tobacco.
Which Comes First: Smoking or Depression?
The honest answer is that the relationship runs in both directions, and the direction is not always the same for different people.
For some people, depression precedes and drives smoking. Low mood, reduced motivation, social withdrawal and the neurochemical effects of depression can make cigarettes feel like one of the few reliable sources of short-term relief. The dopamine response that nicotine produces, however brief, can function as a form of self-medication for people whose neurochemical reward system is already compromised by depression.
For others, the evidence suggests that smoking can precede and contribute to depression. A longitudinal study published in BMC Psychiatry found that among current smokers, the risk of depressive symptoms increased proportionally to daily smoking amount, with those smoking a pack or more per day having a 34% higher risk of developing depressive symptoms compared to non-smokers. Research compiled in PMC confirms that depression is twice as common in smokers as non-smokers, and four times as common in heavy smokers.
The most accurate picture is a cycle rather than a linear cause and effect: depression drives smoking, smoking compounds the neurochemical conditions that maintain depression, and each reinforces the other.
The Temporary Relief Illusion
This is the dimension of the smoking and depression relationship that keeps the most people stuck.
Nicotine produces a brief neurochemical response that feels like relief: a moment of calm, a reduction in tension, a transient lift in mood. For someone managing depression, that moment matters. It is reliable, immediate, and available at any point the emotional weight becomes too heavy.
The problem is structural. What nicotine is actually relieving, in significant part, is the withdrawal state produced by its own absence. The anxiety, irritability and low mood that build between cigarettes are substantially driven by nicotine withdrawal, not by the underlying conditions the person believes smoking is managing. The cigarette does not reduce depression. It temporarily restores the neurochemical state that the previous cigarette depleted.
The ASH review of smoking and mental health puts this directly: smoking is not an effective means of managing a mental health condition. The feeling of relaxation is temporary and soon gives way to withdrawal symptoms and increased cravings. The underlying causes of depression are not addressed.
What this means in practice is that every cigarette a person with depression smokes in the belief that it is helping them cope is also deepening the cycle that connects smoking and depression.
Why People With Depression Find Quitting Harder
The intersection of smoking and depression creates specific challenges for cessation that are worth understanding clearly.
Withdrawal from nicotine can temporarily amplify low mood, irritability and anxiety, which are symptoms that overlap significantly with depression. For someone already managing depression, the early weeks of a quit attempt can feel like the condition is worsening, which creates powerful pressure to return to smoking.
Additionally, if smoking has been functioning as an emotional coping mechanism, quitting removes that coping mechanism before a replacement has been established. The cognitive and behavioural dimensions of depression, including reduced motivation, impaired concentration and difficulty sustaining effort, can make the conscious management of cravings significantly harder than it is for someone without a mental health condition.
The AIHW notes that people with mental health conditions may find smoking cessation difficult. This is not a moral judgment. It is a practical description of a genuine structural challenge that requires an appropriately targeted approach.
The Remarkable Mood Benefits of Quitting Smoking
This is the finding that most people with depression who smoke have never heard clearly stated: quitting smoking is likely to improve your mood, not worsen it long-term.
The AIHW states directly that upon quitting, people with mental health conditions are likely to experience improvements in mood, general wellbeing, mental health and quality of life. This finding is consistent across multiple studies and represents one of the most counterintuitive and underutilised pieces of evidence in the smoking and depression space.
An Australian study published in Health Expectations, in which 17 Australians with mental illness were interviewed about their smoking experience, found that despite smoking being used to cope with anxiety, depression, loneliness and stress, all participants agreed that life was better after quitting.
The mechanism makes sense. As nicotine withdrawal cycles end and the neurochemical system begins stabilising, the artificial mood suppression that the withdrawal-relief pattern was creating resolves. The baseline mood without nicotine is higher, not lower, than the mood experienced in the constant cycle of smoking and withdrawal.
How the Subconscious Pattern Connects Smoking and Depression
The smoking and depression relationship is not purely neurochemical. It is also deeply subconscious. Through years of associating cigarettes with emotional relief, the subconscious mind builds a pattern: low mood fires the urge to smoke automatically. The emotional state becomes a trigger as reliable as any environmental cue.
This subconscious pattern is why knowing intellectually that smoking does not actually help depression does not change the automatic reach for a cigarette when the emotional state drops. The knowledge lives in the conscious mind. The pattern lives in the subconscious.
Hypnotherapy works at the subconscious level, addressing the specific emotional associations and conditioned responses that link low mood to smoking. By working with the subconscious patterns directly, it offers a pathway to cessation that does not require the person to override an automatic urge through willpower alone, which is particularly valuable for people managing depression where depleted cognitive resources make willpower-based approaches even harder to sustain.
The Breathe Quit Smoking program uses a single-session approach conducted online via Zoom with Michael Whelehan, addressing the subconscious smoking patterns while treating the whole person rather than just the habit in isolation. The stress and anxiety service at Breathe Hypnotherapy addresses mood-related patterns alongside cessation for those who find the emotional dimension of smoking particularly significant.
Frequently Asked Questions About Smoking and Depression
Does smoking cause depression?
Research shows a bidirectional relationship. Smoking is associated with significantly increased risk of depressive symptoms, with heavy smokers having four times the rate of depression compared to non-smokers according to PMC research. The relationship also runs in reverse: people with depression are twice as likely to smoke. Nicotine withdrawal cycles create mood fluctuations that can compound underlying depression, while the neurochemical effects of chronic nicotine use may affect mood regulation over time.
Does quitting smoking make depression worse?
In the short term, nicotine withdrawal can temporarily amplify low mood and irritability, which overlap with depressive symptoms. However, the AIHW confirms that in the longer term, people with mental health conditions who quit smoking typically experience improvements in mood, general wellbeing, mental health and quality of life. The temporary worsening during withdrawal is not the long-term picture.
Why do people with depression smoke more?
People with depression may use smoking as a form of self-medication, as nicotine produces a brief neurochemical response that feels like relief. However, much of what smoking relieves is the withdrawal state created by previous cigarettes rather than the depression itself. The AIHW notes that people may perceive smoking as helpful in managing symptoms while it is actually reinforcing the cycle.
Is hypnotherapy appropriate for people who smoke and have depression?
Hypnotherapy addresses the subconscious patterns maintaining the smoking habit, which is particularly relevant for people whose smoking is emotionally driven. It is not a treatment for depression. Anyone experiencing depression should continue working with their GP or mental health professional. Please discuss any complementary approach including hypnotherapy with your treating team.
How many Australian smokers have a mental health condition?
Research specific to Australia found that approximately 32.4% of adult smokers, almost 1 in 3, had a 12-month mental disorder at the time of survey. The AIHW confirms that people with mental health conditions are twice as likely to smoke daily compared to those without a diagnosed condition.
Individual results may vary. Hypnotherapy is most effective when you are genuinely ready to make a change. Your results will depend on your mindset, readiness, and personal commitment. Hypnotherapy is not a substitute for medical or psychological advice and is not a treatment for depression or any mental health condition. If you are experiencing depression or other mental health symptoms, please consult your GP or a qualified mental health professional before commencing any cessation program. If you need immediate mental health support, please contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. The success rates referenced on the Breathe Hypnotherapy website are based on documented client outcomes from Breathe Hypnotherapy’s practice.
