There is a high prevalence of cigarette smoking among people with schizophrenia and few smoking cessation interventions have been developed for these individuals. Bupropion is an antidepressant medication commonly used to treat smoking in smokers without psychiatric disorder. This study compares how smokers with schizophrenia and smokers without psychiatric illness respond to bupropion (0, 300 mg/day).
Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either bupropion or placebo. Study visits will occur after one-week treatment with placebo or bupropion. During study sessions, participants will come to the laboratory at 9 am and will remain abstinent in the laboratory for 5 hrs. Participants will then be assessed for craving and withdrawal symptoms after viewing and handling neutral cues and smoking cues. After that, participants will have a 90-min period to smoke, and smoking topography will be measured.
