The failure of smoking prevention and treatment in this group is largely down to an acceptance of smoking as a "normal behaviour" and is an indictment on public health and clinical services, it said.

BBC: NHS 'ignoring smoking in mental health patients'

Moreover, a second British study, led by Martin Deahl of St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, concluded that, in the case of British soldiers returning from Bosnia, those who received no counselling were twice as likely to develop problems with alcohol compared with those who were simply given a normal health check.

ECONOMIST: When horror strikes, does counselling help?