Although smoking rates have been falling among the
general Australian population over the past few decades,
SANE Australia (2000) observe this is not the case for
people seriously affected by mental illness, the majority of
whom smoke regularly. The authors assert that smoking is
on average three times more prevalent among people with
a mental illness such as schizophrenia, than in the general
population. A significant corollary to this is that smoking
is damaging the health of people with mental illness. Baxter
(1996) asserts that deaths from respiratory disorders are
60% more likely among people with a mental illness
compared with the general population, and deaths from
heart disease are 30% more likely. Specifically, schizophrenia
is associated with a high risk of natural mortality
(Brown et al. 1999).