# Do you think some people smoke as a slow way to commit suicide **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679 "2018-10-09T00:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/21 "2018-10-09T16:37:31Z")
Is it _the_ reason? No. But I will admit to continually doing several risky things from riding motorcycles too fast to eating more kielbasa than I should because living an extra 10 years in a nursing home having my diapers changed isn’t something that appeals to me. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/22 "2018-10-09T17:18:22Z")
There’s also no guarantee that smoking will kill _you_. There is a statistically significant correlation that smokers have health issues & die younger but you can’t, with certainty, state that a given person will die younger because they smoke, & it would take many years anyway. IOW, it’s an _awful_ way to commit suicide. I don’t smoke, & it’s not (primarily) because I don’t like the odds but I don’t like the odds enough that I wouldn’t want to start. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/23 "2018-10-09T17:19:16Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Is it _the_ reason? No. But I will admit to continually doing several risky things from riding motorcycles too fast to eating more kielbasa than I should because living an extra 10 years in a nursing home having my diapers changed isn’t something that appeals to me. See my post. You are merely getting to the nursing home 10 years sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/24 "2018-10-09T17:30:09Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > You are merely getting to the nursing home 10 years sooner. Based on my observations, the mantra “Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse” usually translates in reality to “Live fast, die in late middle age with a wasted corpse hauling around an oxygen tank”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/25 "2018-10-09T17:54:45Z")
Non-smokers are assholes. I’m 58, smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, and probably look better than any of you. Pix on request. Plus, I hope to be dead sooner. See you in hell, suckers. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/26 "2018-10-09T19:21:28Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > But I know he is depressed and believe his smoking is just a way for him to shave 10 years off his life expectancy, so he can die at 72 instead of 82. Did you ever consider the possibility that smoking makes him feel good **now**? I’m a long-term smoker, and I even at my most depressed I didn’t do it because it might hypothetically take years off my life. I smoked because I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much I just don’t give a single fuck that it might kill me. Besides, if you are planning on killing yourself with drugs, there are so many better choices out there. I do know people who have used heroin, crack, or alcohol as a slow suicide. If you are in so much psychological pain that ending your own life is looking better than living, why not use a drug that numbs that pain **and** speeds up the end? Tobacco doesn’t do either of those things reliably. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/27 "2018-10-09T19:25:48Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Non-smokers are assholes. I’m 58, smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, and probably look better than any of you. Pix on request. > > Plus, I hope to be dead sooner. See you in hell, suckers. _“History of dependent smoking was associated with significantly increased odds of antisocial and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and these associations remained significant after adjustment. History of dependent smoking was also associated with significantly increased odds of paranoid, schizoid, histrionic, avoidant and dependent personality disorders though these associations were no longer statistically significant after adjusting for moo(d) and anxiety disorders.”_ > **[Personality Disorders and Cigarette Smoking among Adults in the United States](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3095681/)** > > There is a paucity of empirical information pertaining to the association between personality disorders and cigarette smoking. The present study examined whether, and to what degree, personality disorders are associated with cigarette smoking;... 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/28 "2018-10-09T19:34:17Z")
Smoking is a very expensive and horrible way to die. Wouldn’t it make more sense to live the healthiest life possible and then just off yourself with a bullet through your brain stem? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/29 "2018-10-09T20:22:38Z")
> [@Crazy\_Canuck](#): > > Did you ever consider the possibility that smoking makes him feel good **now**? I’m a long-term smoker, and I even at my most depressed I didn’t do it because it might hypothetically take years off my life. I smoked because I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much I just don’t give a single fuck that it might kill me. In the context of the thread title: “Do you think _some_ people smoke …” I don’t think there’s a claim that all smokers are deliberately slow suicides. But I’ve definitely encountered quite a few with the idiotic “Who wants to be old?” excuse at hand. (Cf. my previously mentioned in-law who was old in their 40s.) I think most board members are bright enough to understand that if smoking didn’t provide some benefit (e.g., pleasure) there wouldn’t be millions of them. That’s not the question here. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/30 "2018-10-09T20:23:20Z")
I can’t imagine anyone using smoking as a way to kill themselves. I think it’s simply something a lot of people find enjoyable and the benefits outweigh the risks in their minds. There are studies, which I am not going to look up, that show people who smoke yet work out and eat well are better off than overweight nonsmoking couch potatoes. Point being, smoking doesn’t automatically mean a younger death. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/31 "2018-10-09T20:55:30Z")
Just another data point supporting the notion that smoking is a terrible and foolish means of suicide: [less than 10% of lifelong smokers develop lung cancer.](https://amp.livescience.com/3093-smoking-myths-examined.html) (And even fewer will develop the other related cancers such as mouth, throat, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/32 "2018-10-09T21:00:36Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Smoking is a very expensive and horrible way to die. Wouldn’t it make more sense to live the healthiest life possible and then just off yourself with a bullet through your brain stem? Naw. What makes sense is to live the most ENJOYABLE life possible and then just off yourself with a bullet through your brain stem. That’s my plan anyway. Except for the bullet part, too messy. Nitrogen-filled dry cleaning bag for me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/33 "2018-10-09T21:32:19Z")
Regarding possibly higher incidence of smoking with ADHD: Besides the self-medicating aspect (which is certainly a factor - when something really does help you, clearly you’re motivated to continue), there’s also the fact that ADHD includes being deficient in one’s ability to visualize the future (the oxygen tank, etc). Being told that the future will turn out a certain way isn’t particularly helpful when one “knows” that the future is a hazy imaginary nothingness. The future is God, and ADHD makes you a lifelong agnostic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/34 "2018-10-09T21:37:31Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Naw. What makes sense is to live the most ENJOYABLE life possible and then just off yourself with a bullet through your brain stem. That’s my plan anyway. Except for the bullet part, too messy. Nitrogen-filled dry cleaning bag for me. 😃 If there is one thing suicidal people are known for, it’s enjoying life to the max. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/35 "2018-10-09T22:06:50Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Just another data point supporting the notion that smoking is a terrible and foolish means of suicide: [less than 10% of lifelong smokers develop lung cancer.](https://amp.livescience.com/3093-smoking-myths-examined.html) (And even fewer will develop the other related cancers such as mouth, throat, etc.) Smoking more kills you due to its effect on the cardiovascular system than cancer, that was my understanding. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/36 "2018-10-09T22:10:43Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > If there is one thing suicidal people are known for, it’s enjoying life to the max. Hey, they do their best. Don’t tax their gig so hard, Cruster. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/37 "2018-10-09T22:32:02Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Hey, they do their best. Don’t tax their gig so hard, Cruster. They _do_ enjoy life to _their_ max. Unfortunately that ceiling is indistinguishable from their floor. So a suicidal person lives in a form of existential singularity. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/38 "2018-10-09T23:16:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I think most board members are bright enough to understand that if smoking didn’t provide some benefit (e.g., pleasure) there wouldn’t be millions of them. Given the conversations about drugs that I have seen on this board, I do not share your optimism. The OP certainly didn’t appear to consider it as a factor, which is why I brought it up. I have never, in my life, seen a smoker who started smoking as an adult with death as their goal. Comparatively, when I was on the street and using heroin, I was kinda hoping I would die sometimes. I clearly remember chasing the dragon hard and then waking up disappointed that I was still alive. Sometimes I heard other heroin junkies say similar things. I know what a slow suicide with drugs looks like, and tobacco just doesn’t cut it. It’s much easier to look down on someone if you assume they are mentally ill, or a “dumb suicidal,” instead of them just making a decision that you don’t agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/39 "2018-10-10T00:41:22Z")
> [@Crazy\_Canuck](#): > > Given the conversations about drugs that I have seen on this board, I do not share your optimism. The OP certainly didn’t appear to consider it as a factor, which is why I brought it up. > > I have never, in my life, seen a smoker who started smoking as an adult with death as their goal. Comparatively, when I was on the street and using heroin, I was kinda hoping I would die sometimes. I clearly remember chasing the dragon hard and then waking up disappointed that I was still alive. Sometimes I heard other heroin junkies say similar things. I know what a slow suicide with drugs looks like, and tobacco just doesn’t cut it. > > It’s much easier to look down on someone if you assume they are mentally ill, or a “dumb suicidal,” instead of them just making a decision that you don’t agree with. To expand on this, I want to address the phenomenon of overdose among seasoned heroin addicts. These are users well-versed in the effects, side effects and adverse possibilities associated with use of their drug of choice. Yet despite this, it is not uncommon for an addict who has (for whatever reason, rehab, hospitalization, etc) stopped usage for long enough to significantly reduce their tolerance to nonetheless re-start their habit at the same dosage/amount that they used when their tolerance was much higher. Unsurprisingly tjis results in overdose and death in many instances. Now ostensibly, this is done in an attempt to re-capture that elusive, intense high experienced early on in their history with the drug (aka “chasing the dragon”). But these addicts (many, if not most anyway) have enough knowledge and experience with the drug to **know** that their actions are stupendously dangerous and could likely result in overdose. Yet they do it anyway. Because they are only concermed with the present, the moment, and if they die as a result it’s just an added bonus. Or a irrelevancy. ---
**Author:** ![popomomo\_cocoyoyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@popomomo\_cocoyoyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/popomomo_cocoyoyo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679/40 "2018-10-10T03:29:05Z")
When I used to smoke, every once in a while some git would come up to me on their high horse and start telling me how smoking is bad for me and will give me cancer (no shit Sherlock!), so I’d cut them off and say “yeah I know, it’s my way of committing suicide” just so they’d shut up and go away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-some-people-smoke-as-a-slow-way-to-commit-suicide/822679.md?page=3)