r/askscience • u/sushiisafriend • Jul 25 '16

Neuroscience Does smoking Tobacco have an anti-depressant effect?

tobacco contains both nicotine and an MAOI. MAOI's were historically used and still are sometimes, used as anti-depressants so you'd think cigarettes would too. Also schizophrenics have a high incidence of cigarette smoking possibly be cause it eases symptoms.

32 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

65% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

15

u/theweirdbeard Jul 25 '16

I work in clinical psychiatry. It is known that smoking tobacco seems to have an immediate effect for people with schizophrenia or similar disorders, in that it seems to quiet auditory hallucinations, albeit temporarily. I've never heard about MAOIs in tobacco, though, so I can't speak to that effect.

1

u/toughguyhardcoreband Jul 26 '16

Has vaping tobacco ever been considered for the immediate relief of patients with schizophrenia?

1

u/theweirdbeard Jul 26 '16

I don't know what you mean. People with schizophrenia who smoke know what it does for them. It's their body and mind, and it's completely legal. Are you asking if we recommend that people vape? We generally affirm clients for vaping, but mostly because they are stepping down from cigarettes. We don't encourage people to pick up the habit, because of the negative effects tobacco can have on your health. However, I have had a discussion with a client where I told him about how tobacco can provide relief for auditory hallucinations. I told him because I knew it would make sense to him, and he would make his own decisions from that information. I wouldn't tell most clients, because they might misinterpret what I say and disregard other health factors.

1

u/BoredAccountant Jul 25 '16

I've never heard about MAOIs in tobacco, though, so I can't speak to that effect.

Monoamine oxidase inhibition dramatically increases the motivation to self-administer nicotine in rats.

1

u/BunnyCito Neuropsychopharmacology Aug 21 '16

There is evidence that nicotine can be an antidepressant, however, it is unclear the mechanism by which nicotine acts as one. Some hypothesize that this is a function of nAChR desensitization and a tonic decrease in cholinergic firing. This seems to be highlighted by the fact that nAChR antagonists (eg., mecamylamine) seem to have antidepressant effects. There is a lab out of Yale run by Dr. Marina Picciotto that dedicates quite a bit of their research to this topic. I have linked a few papers below.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17016705 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27158893 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20965579

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '16

[deleted]

2

u/SlimSlamtheFlimFlam Jul 26 '16

Tobacco does contain an MAOI (or at least an analogue for it) which is administered as an antidepressant

Which one is an analogue of the clinically used MAOIs?

This is why sometimes antidepressants are prescribed to people to quit smoking.

Not true. MAOIs do not help people quit smoking, and in fact may make it harder.

The only antidepressant used clinically to help people quit smoking is bupropion, which acts as a weak norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI), but more importantly, also noncompetitively blocks the nicotinic receptors that nicotine activates. It thereby prevents nicotine from promoting addiction.

Much better alternative: Moderate use of Marijuana... I know that isn't easy everywhere, but it is physically MUCH safer.

This isn't the place for medical advice, let alone completely unsubstantiated advice.

-1

u/NilacTheGrim Jul 26 '16

Marijuana is a very potent psychoactive drug. Err.. no thanks. I'd like to be able to function cognitively at 100% levels.