Life without cigarettes is not all doom and gloom. In fact, successful quitters are more satisfied with their lives and feel healthier, both one year and three years afterwards, than those who continue to smoke. That's according to new research by Megan Piper and her team. Their work, which looks at whether quitting smoking can improve psychological well-being, is published online in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

The Los Angeles Times and HealthDay ran stories about the research. While there is no doubt that giving up smoking improves health and saves lives, what is less clear is how quitting smoking affects ex-smokers' quality of life.

The authors assessed overall quality of life, health-related quality of life, positive versus negative emotions, relationship satisfaction and occurrence of stressors among 1,504 smokers taking part in a smoking cessation trial in the US.

Smoking status and quality of life were assessed at both one year and three years post smoking cessation. Researchers measured participants’ subjective quality of life in terms of health, work, relationships and overall well-being. While some smokers have concerns that their quality of life may deteriorate if they stop smoking, the authors found that smokers who quit successfully, long-term, experience no such deterioration due to quitting. If anything, they see some noticeable improvements.

While ex-smokers were happier a year after smoking, they reported an even better quality of life by year three. Specifically, compared with those who continued to smoke, quitters scored higher on measures of overall quality of life, health-related quality of life and positive emotions, both one year and three years after quitting. They also felt they had fewer stressors by the third year.

“It could be that smoking exacerbates psychological distress,” said Megan. “It perpetuates an unhealthy cycle not just physically, but mentally. Conversely, quitting smoking leads to better physical and mental health, and the benefits appear to grow the longer the individual is smoke-free. My hope is that this will give smokers confidence that, if they can quit and get over the initial challenge to staying smoke-free, not only will staying quit get easier but they will be happier, too.”

Piper ME et al (2011). Smoking Cessation and Quality Of Life: Changes In Life Satisfaction Over Three Years Following a Quit Attempt. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

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