The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a study stating that those with disabilities smoke more than the general population – that is, 25% of those with disabilities smoke, versus 20% of the general population.

The statistics remind me of how outright self-defeating some of us can be toward living with disability. Personally, I know that everyday independent living is hard enough, and I certainly don't want to make life any tougher by abusing my body with death-ticket vices. I don't smoke or regularly drink alcohol (though, I do drink socially a few times per year, which is as stupid and hypocritical as I get), and I entirely avoid caffeine on a daily basis, maintaining a strict schedule of water intake to foster an ideal bladder balance and overall health. I reckon that I get out of breath enough trying to monkey myself up and about in the morning, and I certainly don’t need kidney or bladder infections acting as icing on my proverbial cerebral-palsied cake, so beyond having a hypocritical happy-hour drink two or three times per year, I avoid all of the bad stuff.

However, it blows my mind when I see people on oxygen simultaneously smoking, or those prone to bladder issues consuming alcohol and caffeine like there’s no tomorrow, with no regard for the fact that they are literally making their situations worse – exacerbating their disabilities, that is. In fact, also just published is a study by the University of Buffalo stating that smoking literally accelerates multiple sclerosis, noting, “Smoking appears to influence the severity of MS and to accelerate brain atrophy and the disruption of the blood-brain barrier in MS patients.”

All of this leads me to wonder about those with disabilities engaging in vicious vices, with my asking the question of, what are they thinking: “My body is already struggling, so what's one more issue matter?”

Indeed, that's exactly what they're thinking. As I call it, it's the I've-got-nothing-more-to-lose syndrome, where some are so wrapped up in self-pity and dysfunction that they don't care that they're moving their own necks closer to the buzz saw with nonsense like unbridled tobacco and alcohol consumption when they know darn well that it all dramatically exacerbates their conditions, literally making them more disabled.

Of course, the dysfunction of the general population can't be overlooked, either, where the fact that 20% of Americans smoke is almost as crazy as the 25% of those with disabilities who smoke. Note that I use the term almost as crazy because no one is as crazy as the guy on oxygen who smokes – he's not only risking his health, but also risking bursting into flames.