Smoking as an anti-depressant? Don’t think so.
Yesterday, I wrote about observing an increase in smoking among youth, and I got a response from someone who posted as Joe Camel. He said:
As someone who has battled depression since I was teen, I can appreciate the desire to alleviate a dark mood. I’m also the mom of a 12 year old girl, and my heart breaks when I see all the pressures on our kids. I just finished an incredibly helpful book on raising teens by child psychologist, Dr. Mike Bradley (http://www.yesyourteeniscrazy.com/), and the question he asks parents is, “With all of that stress, why wouldn’t your kid turn to chemicals?”
Though we might be vehemently anti-smoking, I do think it’s helpful to accept the reality that smoking can be attractive. It’s tempting to hammer kids with images of lung disease and stories of early deaths from cancer, but teens just aren’t thinking about attending their future grandchild’s college graduation. How else do we make our appeals?
What if we talk more openly with our teens about anxiety and depression, it’s root causes and management? Such discussions could coincide with examining tobacco marketing messages that show cigarettes as a way to relax, socialize, or stay thin.
Mr. Camel makes the claim that cigarettes are “the best antidepressant known to man.” I know many smokers feel that way, but I don’t know of any research that supports this bold assertion. I just can’t imagine looking at the smokers around me and thinking, “hmmm… smoking really seems to keep them free of depression and anxiety – maybe it will work for me.”
I wonder if at least part of the reason “1.2 people worldwide are smokers” is they get addicted at tender ages, when their bodies seem invincible, and attempts to quit, even for a day, cause unpleasant, even debilitating withdrawal symptoms.
As far as cigarettes “smelling and tasting good” to Mr. Camel, I really can’t relate. The slightest exposure makes me gasp for breath and grab my inhaler. Body chemistry is complicated, isn’t it? I’m all for adults making their own decisions. Still, with smoking being so terribly addictive and cancer-causing, I think we should pull out all the stops when it comes to preventing teens from taking that first puff.
What do you think? Comment here, or in the form of video on sharinghope.tv.
1 comment September 8, 2008
Did smoking get cool again when I wasn’t looking?
When I stumbled across this picture on the sharinghope.tv ”quitting smoking” channel , I was hoping to see a quit-smoking success story. I can never resist a person who smiles with his whole face. Sadly, this man died as a result of lung cancer. His son, known on sharinghope.tv as melhale2002, posted the picture in remembrance of his father and to remind others of the devastating effects of smoking.
I’m still on an anti-smoking kick from last week for two reasons. One, the Great American Smoke Out is only two months away and it would be awesome to see some homemade stop-smoking videos on Sharinghope.tv.
And Two? I just came back from a wedding where I watched a high percentage of twenty-something college grads duck out of the ballroom every 20 minutes or so to grab a cigarette. UGH!
Is smoking on the rise again? Are we not doing enough to convince our youth that smoking can KILL?
I lost two grandfathers because of smoking and they were only in their 50s. My sister and I used to call grandad Darth Vader because his emphasyema caused his breathing to sound just like the Star Wars villian. What I remember most of my other grandfather was the smell of his pipe. Lung cancer whittled away at his 6’2″ frame, killing him when I was just five.
I know smoking is one of the toughest habits to break, but why are so many still starting?
3 comments September 7, 2008
Can you convince people not to light up?
YouTube may have dozens of anti-smoking ads, but someone who wants to quit smoking is much more likely to turn to the American Cancer Society for advice. The SharingHope.tv Quitting Smoking channel gives you the chance to inspire others to put down those cigarettes. Tell your personal story of how you quit. Use your sense of humor to create a short anti-smoking film like the one I found on You Tube (see below). You can even encourage kids to create a short video in order to get them thinking critically about smoking. Take your best shot. You might even win a SharingHope.tv contest.
Videos are just one way you can pass along the quit-smoking message. Here’s a photo from sharinghope.tv member KristenRenee. Her mom quit smoking after 35 years and inspired others to do the same. Way to Share Hope!
Add comment September 3, 2008
Beating Breast Cancer During Business School: Katie’s Story
For Katie, going back to school meant balancing a job, school, and cancer treatment. She she emerged a surivor and earned her MBA. Thanks, Sarah, for sharing Katie’s story on SharingHope.tv.
Add comment August 29, 2008
Share Your Creative Side on SharingHope.tv
SharingHope.tv isn’t all about video. Members like Cori Riley use the photo upload feature exclusively to share artwork and poetry. Here’s what she has to say about her 2008 Relay experience:
Add comment August 26, 2008
Lost in Space
An estimated 35,000 blogs exist about cancer, according to Seattle PI Reporter Charie Black. I don’t know where she got her numbers, but I agree they are really big. Like the bookworm that I am, I’ve been trying to read them all, which is an impossible task for one person.
What does the community of cancer bloggers have to do with Sharinghope.tv? I’m still trying to figure that out. The last thing I want to do is spam prolific cancer bloggers (or bloggers who happen to have cancer), as it is clear from reading their blogs that they are constantly getting spammed already. In fact, this blog gets spammed by people selling “cures.” Ugh.
Jeanne Slather, of the Assertive Cancer patient writes frequently about the emails she receives asking her to promote one event or another, or to blog for free . She is far from alone in her frustration.
I don’t want to be a spammer, but I am interested in getting the word about SharingHope.tv. Currently, the site looks more ACS than community, but though ACS launched it, they really are stepping back to let the community take over. But, as a non-profit, they don’t have the budget to hire community managers to foster its growth.
As a volunteer, I’d love to get feedback – positive or negative – to pass along to the people at ACS who concieved the site, built it, and are maintaining it. Not exactly sure how to do that.
Add comment August 22, 2008
What a Difference a Mae Makes
If you are Relay or Making Strides veteran, you might have set up a team page for to show your spirt and collect donations, or maybe you send letters. Few people have the time to make a face-to-face appeal to absolutely everyone they know. Mae, a three-time breast cancer survivor, personalizes her fund-raising efforts by starring on SharingHope.tv and embedding her video onto her Mae’s Squad site. Thanks Mae for sharing your story and sharing hope!
Add comment August 19, 2008
A Note to WordPress Users about Embedding SharingHope.tv Videos
If you’ve tried embedding your SharingHope.tv videos into a free WordPress blog, you’ve probably gotten a SharingHope.tv frame, but no video. There is a fix. Vodpod is a free service that makes it easy for you share and embed videos across a variety of video-sharing sites. The site allows you to install a button to your browser window, so that whenever you come across a video you’d like to share on your blog, you click the button and it will automatically post the video to your blog with text and a title of your choosing. If you need more help, Vodpod has a great FAQ page.
submitted by sharinghope.tv member, Mississippi
Tips: Once you use vodpod to post, you can go back and edit your WordPress post with links and tags. It works well to link to your actual SharingHope.tv video page in the body of your post, as your video will not have the colorful SharingHope.tv box surrounding it. Someday, we’ll find a way to put the box back, but in the meantime, it’s important to us that you are able to share your SharingHope.tv videos with the rest of the online cancer community.
If you aren’t a WordPress user, but share and use video across a number of video sites (sharinghope.tv, youtube, etc.) , you might also find Vodpod a useful way to keep track.
According to Vodpod, there are over 5000 video sharing sites on the Internet! They’ve published their top 100 most popular sharing sites. Let’s put SharingHope.tv on their next list of the top 100 video sharing websites!
2 comments August 18, 2008
Relay For Life goes behind bars
“I’ve done three good things in my life. My son. My daughter. And Relay for Life,” said an inmate at Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility. This video, submitted by SharingHope.tv member Kathy H (with permission from CBS4 Rock Island, IL) tells the story of how a prison adopted Relay as its cause, impacting the lives of inmates, guards, and the surrounding community. Thanks Kathy H for sharing!
Add comment August 12, 2008
Relay Ceremonies Rival Beijing
Okay, so I’m kidding. Maybe this performance isn’t up to 2008 Olympic standards, but these folks at the Saline County Relay in Salina, Kansas are having fun and raising money for cancer research. Their efforts are as good as gold!
Add comment August 10, 2008