London Smoking and Mental Health Week Q&A Ed Beveridge

London Smoking and Mental Health Week 2025: Communications Toolkit Now Available

Introducing London Smoking and Mental Health Week

Thank you for supporting London Smoking and Mental Health Week, Ed. Could you start by telling us why you think we need to focus on this topic?

It’s really important to have a week dedicated to smoking and mental health. We know that smoking is associated with a number of serious long-term health issues and that people with mental health conditions smoke more than the general public. It’s a big health problem that, in my view, needs urgent attention. I think we can make good progress this week raising awareness of the relationship between smoking and mental health and helping people to quit.

What are the specific aims of the week?

London Smoking and Mental Health Week aims to help people understand the relationship between smoking and mental health, especially stress, and also consider the role of vaping in helping people to quit. Furthermore, we want healthcare professionals to challenge themselves to work together across the system to deliver better stop smoking support for people living with mental illness.

Some people believe that smoking reduces stress and anxiety – is that true?

The evidence suggests that’s not the case. Nicotine is a stimulant so, if you’re dependent on it, you start to feel more anxious when you withdraw from it. Smoking makes your anxiety and stress levels worse rather than better and it’s generally really bad for your health.

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DID YOU KNOW?

26% of adults experiencing stress and anxiety smoke

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What advice would you give to someone with a mental health condition who wants to quit smoking?

I’ve had lots of conversations with people who say it’s just too hard to quit smoking and I get it. It’s really difficult as nicotine is addictive but it’s worth persevering. If you try once and you don’t manage to quit, try again as many times as you need to. There are lots of ways to make it easier, such as nicotine replacement. Be kind to yourself and you’ll get there.

How can healthcare professionals like yourself help people with mental health conditions to quit smoking?

As mental health professionals, we’re often the people with the best relationships and the best access to patients with severe mental health conditions. If we can provide some kind of stop smoking support or help people to link up with it, then we can probably get the best outcomes. There’s a lot of scope for professionals within mental health trusts to work together, and to team up with partners in the wider system, to make sure smoking cessation is embedded in our work.

Which support services can healthcare professionals signpost their patients to?

In London, we’re fortunate to have lots of different forms of stop smoking support available – for example, through mental health trusts, local authorities, GPs, community pharmacies, local stop smoking services and the Smokefree app. The Stop Smoking London website is a great place to start.

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DID YOU KNOW?

45% of adults with a serious mental illness smoke

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How should healthcare professionals talk about vaping with patients who smoke?

So, when it comes to smoking cessation, I’d encourage healthcare professionals to talk to their patients about vaping as an alternative to smoking and how to do it safely.

What would you like to see London Smoking and Mental Health Week achieve?

A brilliant outcome for this week would be for smokers with a mental health condition to know what support is available to help them quit and how they can access it. For healthcare professionals, I’d like to see a renewed focus on what we want to happen across London. In the longer term, I’d like to see our quit rates and our health outcomes get better and for the inequity in mental health to be addressed.