Chunk #13 — 3. Results — 3.2 Association of Suicide with Current Smoking — 3.2.1. Possible Mechanisms — 3.2.1.2. Smoking as a Psychological or Physical Toxin
A third mechanism posits that smoking causes physical illnesses and physical illness is a leading cause of suicide (Sudak 1999). In fact, smoking is probably the leading behavioral cause of ongoing morbidity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2003; US Department of Health and Human Services 2004) and the illnesses smoking causes; i.e., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and cardiovascular disease (US Department of Health and Human Services 2004) can cause prolonged pain and disability (US Department of Health and Human Services 2004); thus, it is plausible smoking could cause suicides via causing serious illnesses.
