Many people begin smoking because they believe that it will reduce their stress. While it is true that after you’ve been smoking for a while, trying to quit can cause you to feel irritable, anxious, and a whole host of other negative emotions, starting in the first place has absolutely no benefits.
Stress is a reaction that takes place in your body when you sense any sort of danger or demand. This is also called the fight or flight response. What happens is that your nervous system floods the body with hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, which causes your heart to beat faster, your muscles to tighten, your blood pressure to rise, your breath to quicken, and your senses to become sharper. You’ve heard the stories about a mother being able to lift a car off of her child – these stress hormones temporarily strengthen you and give you more stamina and focus, and increase your reaction time.
There have been studies done on animals that show that nicotine does nothing to reduce stress. When you first begin smoking a cigarette, it might temporarily improve your mood and concentration, decreases anger and stress, relax your muscles, and reduce appetite. However, these benefits are fleeting. If you start smoking regularly, the nicotine will actually make changes to your brain, and if you try to reduce or stop smoking, you will end up going through nicotine withdrawal. You’ll find yourself experiencing headaches, hunger pangs, bouts of anxiety or depression, and more. When you smoke again and believe that the nicotine is getting rid of all those negative feelings, what’s really happening is that you’re feeding a craving.
That feeling that smoking is reducing stress is therefore all in your mind. You might think that stress is all in your mind as well, but as mentioned above, it does have physical manifestations, and nicotine isn’t going to do anything but make it so that you’ll never be free of them. If you absolutely can’t stop smoking, you could try another, relatively safer method of ingesting nicotine. Nicotine patches, gum, or even electronic cigarettes will provide you with the nicotine without the tar and other harmful chemicals present in cigarettes.
You’ll find it far more helpful to turn to other methods of stress relief. Sometimes getting your body in shape can do the same for your mind. Try eating healthier, getting plenty of exercise, and cutting back on alcohol. You can also attempt to order your mind through meditation, mindfulness, yoga, breathing exercises, and many other alternative methods. Some people have even found acupuncture and hypnosis helpful. You can also consider seeing a therapist or counselor to try getting the root of your problems with stress.
If you or a loved one need help with quitting drugs or alcohol, consider Asana Recovery. We offer medical detox, along with both residential and outpatient programs, and you’ll be supervised by a highly trained staff of medical professionals, counselors, and therapists. Call us any time at (949) 438-4504 to get started.