You hate the fact that you smoke and that you are dealing with the smell of smoking all the time. Yet, as soon as something goes wrong, you reach for a pack of cigarettes to help you to take the edge off. Why does it happen?
One of the beliefs many people have is that smoking nicotine reduces stress levels. Could this be true? If it is, it could explain why you are dealing with the ongoing need to have a pack by your side at all times no matter how badly you hope to quit.
It is All in the Mind
It is actually a myth that nicotine will stop stress. When you consider what stress is, it does not provide any improving effect. Stress occurs when the body releases hormones into the bloodstream that speed up your heart rate and work to get you ready to either fight or to run.
Stress in today’s modern world often feels like muscle tension and a headache, though. Nicotine, in this form, actually contributes to the actual stress level because it interacts with the hormone release.
But, then, why do you feel better after you have a cigarette? It is all in your mind. Your body is craving the nicotine. Your mind believes that having a smoke will help to reduce your anxiety and calm your nerves.
Even though it does not do so in a physical sense, it very much does the work of satisfying what your mind and body are craving. That is why you feel better after you smoke.
But, This Doesn’t Stop the Problem
If you feel better after you have a cigarette, it may be because you need the nicotine. You do not need the actual cigarette with all of the tar and chemicals that are destroying your health and making you smell bad.
A solution for this, then, is to put down the pack and to pick up an alternative smoking product such as a nicotine patch or electronic cigarette. Smoking alternatives can solve this problem for you because they fill the body’s craving for nicotine, they do not harm your health, and they settle the demand of your mind to handle the stress factor.
In short, the stress is not going to go away until you settle whatever is bringing it on for you. Yet, you can get some relief by giving in to your body’s psychological and physical dependency on cigarettes nonetheless. Try to make the switch to e-cigarettes (or other alternatives) and you may find that this is the best thing you did to stop the habit but to settle your mind’s cravings.
