Recovery is a way of life that embraces emotional, physical, mental and spiritual health. At WestBridge, we believe that there are many opportunities for our treatment team to help individuals and families begin this process.
Tobacco and nicotine are legal substances that have been used by our culture for centuries; they are used recreationally as well as in some spiritual practices. Today, we know about how regular use of tobacco and nicotine can cause multiple illnesses. We also know that the cost of using tobacco increases each year as new taxes are levied.
Research* tells us that:
■ 75 percent of those with severe and persistent mental illness are tobacco dependent.
■ People with chronic mental illness die 25 years earlier than others, on average, and smoking is a large contributor to that early mortality.
At WestBridge, we have seen firsthand the physical effects of tobacco and nicotine on our participants, including asthma, frequent upper respiratory infections, and yellowing of the skin and teeth. With this in mind, we decided to implement a tobacco-free program that will provide nicotine replacement therapy for participants at our Florida site.
This will provide an opportunity for participants to live tobacco-free and to judge for themselves the benefits and/or drawbacks. While we know this is a structured tobacco-free setting and some of our participants may not want to be tobacco free upon discharge, we believe that providing this tobacco-free opportunity is part of the process of people
making a decision to live a healthier life and to live longer.
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