Published at 14 September, 2026 10:07.
Quit for you and help take care of your mental health. Quit for everyone around you and never give up giving up!
These are the three key messages for this year’s campaign. For those new to Stoptober, it was first implemented in 2012 by Public Health England, and it encouraged smokers to abstain from smoking for 28 days during October. If you can quit for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay quit!
Quitting smoking can help you look after your mental health. From the bigger incidents to the small, minor upsets, it is all about how we react and respond to stress that matters. Reaching for a cigarette will not help! It is a common thought that smoking relieves stress and anxiety and calms us down, but smoking increases these feelings. It may feel like we are relieved of the stress when we light up a cigarette, but this feeling is temporary, and the effects of smoking are more likely to cause feelings of stress and anxiety in the first place. When smokers have not had a cigarette in a while, the cravings can make them feel anxious and irritated.
Smokers are more likely to develop depression over time than non-smokers. Studies show that stopping smoking helps your mood, you will be less anxious and be able to deal with stress in a better way. As your anxiety is reduced, be more positive about developing different and better coping mechanisms to deal with stresses and upsets in your life as they come along, without the thought of reaching for a cigarette. Some people are anxious in the first place about stopping smoking. This is a natural reaction, especially if you have smoked for a long time.
Second hand smoke or passive smoking affects other people, especially our children. People who breathe in second-hand smoke regularly are more likely to get the same diseases as smokers including lung cancer and heart disease. Limiting smoking to one room does not help as the smoke will spread to the rest of the house, where people will inhale it. No matter how careful you think you are being, people around you still breathe in the harmful poisons from your cigarettes. Passive smoking is especially harmful for children as they have less-well-developed airways, lungs and immune systems. Children who live in a smoking household are more likely to develop asthma, chest infections like pneumonia and bronchitis, ear infections, have more coughs and colds and have more risk of developing meningitis. To protect children, smoking in cars and other vehicles carrying children was banned in 2015. It is against the law to smoke in a private vehicle if there's a person under 18.
Pregnant women exposed to passive smoke are more prone to premature birth, and their baby is more at risk of low birthweight and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Being exposed to smoke in the home effects our pets too. Toxins in tobacco smoke can harm your pet as it can damage your pets’ cells like it can humans. Research has shown that our pets can be exposed to a significant amount of smoke when living in a smoker`s home and will often suffer from the same problems as we do such as breathing difficulties, asthma, skin allergies, eye problems and even cancers such as lung, nose, mouth and lymphoma.
Stoptober is a great time to quit, even if you have tried before as each quit attempt brings you closer every time to quitting for good.
Let's Quit Smoking Together this Stoptober for you, for your mental health and for everyone around you!
Written by Carrie at NHS Stop Smoking Service - Yorkshire Smokefree
