Skip to main content

The Adult Pacifier; A glimpse into the complications of nicotine dependence and Anxiety

Renee Sharma

    Be it via traditional cigarettes or electronic vapes, the frequent consumption of nicotine has recently catapulted monumentally and can be linked to its easy availability and the discrete nature of vaping. Nicotine is commonly viewed as a harmless and lightweight substance, making it popular amongst Adults and even adolescents. While cigarettes are stigmatised as the tobacco content causes harmful health complications, Vapes usage has increased by falsely gaining the title of being ‘healthy’. E-cigarettes are also extensively marketed to impressionable teens through a variety of appetising and candy-like flavours alongside aesthetically appealing vaping devices. Due to an increase in online shopping platforms, Vapes are also delivered in discrete packaging right to one's doorstep. 

People tend to smoke/vape because they associate the rush of nicotine with calming effects in stressful and anxiety-causing situations. They report feeling calmers and being able to channel their positive attributes better. People that suffer from Anxiety disorders, such as panic disorders, phobias, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are aware that the medication and treatment via therapy can be a long-drawn process that requires faith, dedication, and consistency. Even The Ashokan campus bears witness to overcrowding in the smoking area, even at odd hours,  during midterms and finals week. Most young adults also find it easier to fall into the habit of smoking as it is commonplace at parties and social gatherings. It is glorified by Social media influencers, Teen movies, music videos, and TV shows as the new form of recreational substance use. It is almost unsettling to see the enormous amounts of young adults at parties that deal with social cue ambiguities by carrying a vape and depending on them like children do pacifiers. This pressures people into smoking and making a habit out of it as it has the two-fold advantage of relieving the stress of social anxiety as well as that of not ’fitting in’. It is in these situations that nicotine can seem like an easy fix, providing sensory relief and allowing a smoother daily functioning. Moreover, there is clear evidence that smoking modulates symptom severity in patients with anxiety disorders. This could be because the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) can modulate the function of pathways involved in stress response, and smoking can result in alterations of anxiety levels and mood. Nicotine stimulates the brain in order to release pleasure hormones like dopamine which in turn allows for one to temporarily obtain some relief from their stressors or anxiety (Picciotto, 2002). The pleasure response to dopamine is a big part of the nicotine addiction process and it keeps people from quitting because the withdrawal symptoms seem identical to their anxiety or stressors (Bishop, 2014). 

Additionally, people with various eating disorders, body dysmorphia and body image issues tend to be more vulnerable to the allure of vaping. One of the popular Google searches with the word ‘vaping’ includes ‘can vaping make me skinny’; the vocabulary of which can confirm that this comes from a place of an obsession with the ‘thin ideal’ body type. The use of e-cigarettes to suppress appetite not only encourages unhealthy relationships with food but also promotes vaping as a coping mechanism to reduce the anxiety and stress felt due to the constant policing and obsession with losing or controlling weight and thereby, bettering one's appearance. A recent study revealed participants with eating disorders were vaping significantly more often and with higher levels of nicotine than those without eating disorders (Marson, 2018).

An ordinary response to this pressing issue of addiction would be: “Just Quit”. However, it is not that straightforward. Most people do not even realise that their frequency of smoking is categorised as an addiction because they dissociate the actual habit from the title of ‘dependency’ or ‘addiction’. They tend to justify their habit in several ways in order for it to not seem severe or harmful in front of others or even to themselves. When one tries to quit through various methods like cold-turkey, gradual reduction, etc., the receptors in your brain do not receive nicotine, so the pleasure response is cut off. This triggers a wide range of strong withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, depressed mood, frustration, anger, increased hunger, and difficulty sleeping. This also strengthens the association in their minds between nicotine and anxiety relief as they confuse withdrawal for their anxiety or stress returning through stronger symptoms. Over time the number of nicotine receptors in your brain increases. This is why the majority of attempts to quit lead to a relapse. Addicted smokers have billions more of these receptors than nonsmokers do. But not all smokers have such a high level of receptors. That is why some regular smokers can stop smoking without much difficulty as compared to others (Anxiety & Smoking | Smokefree, n.d.).

         References


Bishop, S. (2014, March 13). Smokers’ Brains Change in Response to High Levels of Nicotine. Mayo Clinic News Network. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/smokers-brains-change-in-response-to-high-levels-of-nicotine/#:%7E:text=Nicotine%20that%20gets%20into%20your,of%20the%20nicotine%20addiction%20process.

Picciotto, M. R., Brunzell, D. H., & Caldarone, B. J. (2002). Effect of nicotine and nicotinic receptors on anxiety and depression. Neuroreport, 13(9), 1097–1106. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-200207020-00006


Marson, G. (2018, December 7). Eating Disorders and Vaping: What’s the Link? PsychAlive. https://www.psychalive.org/eating-disorders-and-vaping-whats-the-link/


Anxiety & Smoking | Smokefree. (n.d.). Smokefree.Gov. Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://smokefree.gov/challenges-when-quitting/cravings-triggers/anxiety-smoking#:%7E:text=It%20is%20common%20to%20think,your%20brain%2C%20including%20your%20mood


Many young people turn to nicotine to deal with stress, anxiety and depression, but don’t know it may be making them feel worse. (2021, October 7). Truth Initiative. Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/many-young-people-turn-nicotine-deal-stress-anxiety



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PTSD and its portrayal in Peaky Blinders

AARYAN SANWAL The award-winning TV series, Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham, England at the end of the First World War and gives an account of the Peaky Blinders that is headed by the Shelby family. Thomas Shelby was a tunneller in World War I and for his actions, received two medals of honour after the war.   This blog post shall look at the representation of war trauma, its accuracy in depictions and its effects on the lives of the characters. The two main characters that this blog post will be focusing on are Thomas Shelby and Daniel Owen (a.k.a. Danny Whiz-Bang). The two of them were tunnellers in the War and were going through a routine tunnel expedition when the Germans broke through the end of their tunnel and attacked the men in the tunnel and brutally injured Thomas and Daniel. They were able to kill the enemies and leave the tunnels, alive but severely injured. During various instances throughout the show, Thomas Shelby has recurring nightmares of his time i...
Post a Comment
Read more

PTSD and its relationship with defense mechanisms and empathy: Character analysis of Levi Ackerman (SnK)

|Indira Bulhan Blog post: 1 “Manga is for kids” (My ignorant friend, 2018). Manga is often treated by people as something which is not so serious. However, it holds within itself some dark aspects of humanity. One such example is Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan). In it, the character of Levi Ackerman has been through a series of events which sets him apart from the people around him. Through this blog post, I will look upon the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its relationship with defense mechanisms and empathy.     Levi’s past is filled with events which can act as strong stressors for the development of trauma: the death of his mother at an early age, abandonment by father, raised by his uncle in the underworld in a highly unhygienic and malnourished state (who later abandons him again), death of his two closest friends and lover. Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD can be defined as a mental disorder which can happen to peopl...
Post a Comment
Read more

On The Paranoid Delusions of Travis Bickle

Trisha Malhotra Paranoia keeps its sufferers in-check. Convinced of being under the presence of a constant threat, people paranoid personality disorder are extremely mistrustful, experience high anxiety and have far-reaching delusions. On the other hand, people with schizotypal personality disorder, in addition to being paranoid, are eccentric, isolated and experience delusions and periods of psychosis. Travis Bickle from Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver (1976) is an embodiment of the onset and development of schizotypal symptoms. Travis, an ex-marine, now works as a taxi driver in New York. He lives an isolated life and struggles with insomnia. Although shy in the company of his loud-mouthed acquaintances, he has strong opinions about what is right and wrong for improving the lives of those around him. He grows frustrated with the world he inhabits "wishing a real rain will come and wash all the scum of the streets." His night-shifts around the streets of New York lea...
Post a Comment
Read more