For years tobacco company advertisements suggested that smoking would help a person to relax. Now researchers suggest that smoking will also increase a person for the risk of depression.

Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, professor, University of Navarra, based his research on a 6 year study of 8,556 university graduates (average age of 42)  over a 6 year period. During the study 190 smokers, who initially did have signs of depression, were diagnosed with the disease. Also, 65 participants who had been diagnosed with depression indicated they were taking antidepressants at some point during the study period. Overall, smokers have a 41% higher risk of suffering from depression according to the study.

Sánchez-Villegas suggest that both environmental and genetic influences are factors that determine if a person will use a tobacco product, which are also possible factors that may increase the risk the individual will suffer from depression.