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Milestone Two
Emily Higdon
Southern New Hampshire University
CHE-110: Intro To Community Health
Dr. Enjoli T. Sidonie
April 7, 2025
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When it comes to trying to improve mental health and quit smoking, there are a
few steps a person can take. People should concentrate on creating healthy coping strategies,
getting professional help, and participating in activities that enhance wellbeing in addition to
cutting back on or quitting smoking in order to improve their mental health and quit smoking.
Finding these causes and creating healthy substitutes are essential if smoking is used as a coping
mechanism for stress, anxiety, or despair. Make contact with encouraging family members,
friends, or support networks to offer encouragement and assistance during the quitting process.
“Perceived good social support has been found to have a positive role in the outcomes of
schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and anxiety disorder, whereas loneliness has been
found to be associated with poor outcome in those” (Prakash et al., 2020).
The health behavior changes I identified could be done many different ways. Medication
management, individual or group treatments, and other psychological services can be offered by
therapists, counselors, and psychiatrists. “Counseling and medication are effective on their own,
but using them together can more than double the chances of quitting” (Clinical Interventions to
Treat Tobacco Use and Dependence Among Adults, 2024). Resources for stopping smoking,
including details on how smoking affects mental health, can be found on the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) website. There are also 12-step meetings called nicotine
anonymous that is a support group for those who want to quit or who are already quick and still
go to meetings.
One of the key prevention strategies that can be used to support the changes I identified is
promoting smoke free/tobacco free policies that prohibit the use in public spaces and workplaces.
Another would be educating people on the dangers of smoking and what the positives would be
if they quit. That would also work for mental health by educating people on the conditions of
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mental health and promoting those to seek help. In order to manage cravings and triggers,
mindfulness-based interventions can assist people in being more conscious of their thoughts and
emotions. Make certain that smoking cessation programs are customized to meet the
requirements of people with mental health issues.
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References
Clinical Interventions to Treat Tobacco Use and Dependence Among Adults. (2024, May 15).
CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/hcp/patient-care-settings/clinical.html
Prakash, J., Chatterjee, K., Srivastava, K., Chauhan, V. S., & Chail, A. (2020). Role of various
lifestyle and behavioral strategies in positive mental health across a preventive to
therapeutic continuum. Industrial psychiatry journal, 29(2), 185–190.
https://doi.org/10.4103/ipj.ipj_126_20
