• Day 494 •
Myth Busters 101: Understanding Nicotine and Stress
There are several myths about nicotine and stress that need to be debunked if you are going to understand whatÂ’s happening in your lives right now. The use of nicotine actually has a seesaw effect in our bodies and minds in relationship to stress, and many quitters experience increased anxiety, rage and nervous tension at the beginning of their quits.
Myth #1 – Nicotine helps me relax.
I used to think that dip helped me to calm down and chill out, especially at the end of a busy day. However, studies have shown that nicotine actually does just the opposite. The physiological and psychological effects of nicotine addiction create a “void” that only the drug can satisfy or fill. It causes an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and blood glucose levels. Taking a dip to relax is merely taking a dip to cure a nicotine craving, substituting addiction for relaxation.
Myth #2 – Nicotine gives me pleasure.
One of the reasons that I hung on to dipping so long is that I once thought it provided pleasure or happiness. An addict’s logic can rationalize most anything. Think of it this way: Suppose that every day I undergo a physical beating with a whip which causes intense pain and suffering. However, once every week the beatings are mercifully taken away, and on that day I sit back to soak in the “pleasure” of not being hit. What I’ve done is confused the absence of pain with pleasure. The beatings have conditioned me to equate pleasure with the absence of the abuse. Nicotine addiction does just that. It creates a pain (the craving) that is “removed” when more of the drug is fed into our bodies. It conditions us to think that the absence of the craving equals satisfaction, substituting addiction for pleasure.
Myth #3 – Nicotine helps me deal with stress.
This one was a real eye opener for me. When I was experiencing a difficult situation or intense problem I would always reach for the can. Why? Because I thought it was my ally against stress. When I quit my world came crashing down and I ended up having high levels of anxiety and panic attacks. An addictÂ’s mind might lead one to think that the nicotine was keeping me from all that stuff but in reality it was the cause. Nicotine served as a substitute not a cure. When I dealt with the craves I thought I was dealing with the stress but that was not the case. I never actually handled or solved the stress; I only took the drug and when I needed to face stress without it I discovered that I had always been hiding from my problems, substituting addiction for reality.
Sorry for the length of this but writing about my quit and trying to help others actually fortifies my determination to give nic the finger. Nicotine creates an ugly cycle of bondage in our lives and it needs to be broken by destroying the lies of the addiction.
