A study of 350,000 smokers found a direct link between smoking and the increased risk of mental illnesses like depression and bipolar disorder, Neuroscience News reports.

Additionally, it increases the likelihood of being hospitalized for a mental illness by 250%. The data were extrapolated from a repository of nearly a half-million patient health records, whose information was fed into a computer and mined for patterns.

Aside from the mental health data, researchers also found that genetics play a part. While researchers thus far can only speculate why smoking induces mental disorders, they did say it’s possible that it’s something as simple as serotonin, which people with depression don’t manufacture enough of.

“Another explanation could be that smoking causes inflammation in the brain, which in the long term can damage parts of the brain and lead to various mental disorders. But as I said: We don’t know for sure as yet,” Doug Speed, one of the study authors, said.

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Neuroscience News August 30, 2023