Subtheme 4.2: Holistic reflections on mental health and smoking experiences
anxiety
SAID
Participants described how having the integrated treatment allowed them to share a whole picture of their mental health, and how their smoking was affected by their mental health and other stressors. Participants described how their therapist was ‘supportive but not like lecture‐y’ and their therapist tried to understand their smoking as part of their anxiety, ‘which no one's ever done before, so yeah, that was really helpful’. One participant said that the therapist understood what they were going through and were patient with them.
Participants also felt like their smoking cessation support was tailored to them, compared to people who accessed an NHS stop smoking service, who felt like they were treated as a ‘generic smoker’, for example, being provided with information about the products available rather than identifying what would work for them as an individual.