It is common for people to think that smoking is a shorter way of calming down anxiety. However, the truth is anxiety only worsens the symptoms. Nicotine is connected with mood. Research shows that nicotine affects your brain which includes your mood.
Anxiety is feeling panicky, afraid, and nervous. Most people feel anxious when in stressful situations and calm down after things get better. Anxiety becomes an issue if it persists. You might start feeling sad, depressed, and have trouble sleeping or concentrating.
Many people are, therefore, looking for means to calm themselves down every day to carry on with their life. They use self-medication products such as alcohol and cigarettes to get through their day. This can cause you more problems with your anxiety and general health.
Despite the spreading news of the negative effects of smoking and other forms of nicotine and tobacco such as chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder and lung cancer, 15.5% of the USA population still smoke. The rates among individuals living with anxiety can even be higher — common factors associated with tobacco use and anxiety include; impulsiveness, difficulty tolerating negative emotions and stressful childhood.
Nicotine Only Temporarily Lowers Anxiety
According to the 2000 study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, smoking one pack of cigarettes a day, increases the chance of a panic disorder by 12 times and an anxiety disorder by five times.
Another research showed that a big percent of smokers suffer from anxiety, not because smoking causes anxiety but because many patients rely on cigarettes to calm them down — smokers with anxiety are less likely to quit smoking.
The key thing to remember about nicotine and anxiety is that nicotine produces temporally relief from anxiety but compromises your overall health. It only has physiological effects that cause a calming effect. However, the soothing effect lasts only as long as the substance is in your system. This means that the ongoing anxiety (the provoking situations) will take you back to right where you were before the cigarette.
Smoking is a damaging, and expensive addiction. With patients of anxiety, it worsens with time. Although it calms you down for a while, it could lead to financial and health problems, from which you can get severe anxiety. Over time, it can worsen your symptoms and your condition.
What to Do Instead
Living with anxiety can be overwhelming and sometimes you sure just want to get away with it. It is even more frustrating when you do not know what else would help calm you down during the trying moments. Fortunately, they are several treatments of anxiety disorders. First, you can visit the doctor for professional medical advice. If that doesn’t work, your physician can refer you to a therapist specializing in anxiety disorders.
During the sessions, your therapist will help you go through your symptoms, and help you realize what triggers them. With that information, you can come up with solutions. There are many ways to help you from dialectical therapy to cognitive behavioral therapy.
In special cases, your physician may recommend anti-anxiety pills to help manage your worry daily. Some patients only require medication while going through therapy when others use them for months or years — the doctor advice accordingly based on your unique condition.
Can Vaping Cause Anxiety?
The only way vaping can lead to anxiety is if it acts as a trigger of an attack. Usually, people get anxiety attacks because they feel something is not right. Vaping can increase the heart bit rate and make the vaper feel weirdly different. This can inadvertently trigger an anxiety attack. For individuals who have never suffered from depression and anxiety disorders, vaping can’t cause anxiety.
Some people may get anxiety attacks by thinking of vaping as expensive causing them stress and worry over the cost. Needless to say, there are ways of saving on vaping products such as vape subscription boxes.
If you have panic disorders, anxiety or depression, make sure you read through the effects of vaping so that you don’t panic when you experience changes in your body.
Key point: Vaping can only trigger an existing mental disorder but not cause one.
Does Vaping Help Depression?
Depression and vaping go hand in hand, not because any of them cause or treats the other but because people with anxiety and depression are likely to smoke than other people. Subsequently, anxiety and depression patients are likely to start vaping after they quit smoking.
A survey of American smoking habits carried by UCSD found out that more than 15% of the participants with mental health disorders has tried vaping. On the other hand, only 6.6% of people without mental disorders have done the same.
Does Vaping Help With Stress?
Whether or not vaping reduces stress, is one of the frequently asked questions. Well, it does. In the first place, the stress may be as a result of lack of vaping. Meaning, being left without something you are addicted to, may it be sex, vaping or cigarettes can cause aggravation.
Vaping offers relaxation to the mind and body. This is why it is used as a tool for reducing anxiety and depression often.
Important
Anxiety attacks are unpredicted, and they happen when and where they are not welcome. This may be frustrating as it can be a big distraction in both your work and social life. However, it is crucial that you find healthy methods to cure it to maintain general health as a person.
This is why instead of using nicotine to calm your anxiety, you should consider medical help. Keep in mind that nicotine only triggers and maintains anxiety in the long-run.