Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia
<i>“This defines a completely novel strategy for medication development,” says lead author</i><p>As someone with schizoaffective problems and raging ADHD, I find quotes like this acutely annoying. I&#x27;ve <i>told</i> every psychiatrist I&#x27;eve ever dealt with about the experiential costs&#x2F;benefits of smoking (and consuming various other recreational drugs). They all nod sagely and say things like &#x27;but smoking is bad&#x27; (no shit Sherlock!) while making absolutely zero effort to measure or help me track any of this. Every mentally ill person I&#x27;ve known has said much the same thing. Of all the medical professionals I&#x27;ve ever dealt with, psychiatrists are the laziest and least imaginative.<p>Edited to add that I quit tobacco ~7 years ago using chantix, which I <i>totally</i> recommend. Unfortunately my mental ilnesses have become harder to deal with over the same period. The last time I reached out to my psychiatrist he said he hadn&#x27;t seen me in so long that he didn&#x27;t have room in his practice for me any more. What an asshole.