Using nicotine can be complicated. In the short-term, vaping nicotine may feel good by stimulating production of the “feel good” chemical in the brain called dopamine which can create feelings of pleasure and relaxation.
Vaping nicotine also creates social opportunities to connect with other people and provides a distraction from stressful situations. These are powerful drivers for continuing to vape.
However, because of the way nicotine works in the body, those feel-good chemicals don’t last long. Within just a few hours, the effect of nicotine in the body wears off and can lead to a desire to vape again. This is nicotine withdrawal, and it includes cravings or urges to vape, feeling irritated or upset, feeling jumpy and restless and having a hard time concentrating, changes in sleep and eating habits, and feeling anxious or depressed. Over time, it can take more and more nicotine used more and more frequently to create that same good feeling and deal with these symptoms of withdrawal. That’s called nicotine dependence. Eventually, what started out as a pleasurable experience of vaping nicotine turns into vaping to get rid of withdrawal symptoms.
This cycle can make it feel like vaping nicotine relieves anxiety and depression. But the reality is that it only addresses withdrawal symptoms and makes the cycle continue.
Because of this complex cycle, many tobacco users falsely believe tobacco products can relieve stress or anxiety. The idea that tobacco products curb the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal is often misinterpreted as a beneficial effect on mental health, according to research on the effects of quitting smoking on mental health.
Nicotine — which is found in e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and other tobacco products — harms developing brains, and can make young people more susceptible to addiction, and has implications for mental health. These connections were highlighted in the Truth Initiative® report “Colliding Crises: Youth Mental Health and Nicotine Use.” We explore one of those connections — nicotine and stress — in more detail here and dispel some of the myths about nicotine as a stress-reliever.
Truth Initiative – 2022-03-10.
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