When Does Smoking Affect Your Mental Health?

When I ask someone "Why do you smoke?" The answer I hear most of the time is "It releases all the stress" or "It makes my mind free". Do you hear or give the same answer? Almost all the people who smoke think that it helps in reducing stress and anxiety. But the truth is that smoking is extremely addictive and has a highly negative impact on mental health.

You should know that the people who smoke are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than those who do not smoke. 


You must be aware of the physical effects of smoking but not of mental health. It is essential to know the impact of smoking on emotional health too. 


Smoking and Mental Health


This is a result of the effect of Nicotine on Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. Dopamine is a natural chemical in the human body that controls movements a person makes and their emotional responses. Smoking causes a dose of nicotine to reach the brain within seconds. Initially, nicotine relaxes mood and stress, relaxes the muscles and reduces hunger. This happens because nicotine mimics several neurotransmitters in the brain. It activates dopamine signals creating sensations of pleasure. After some time, the brain starts compensating for the increased signalling activity and starts to cause nicotine tolerance causing the person to crave for more and more nicotine. Slowly and gradually, it changes the brain, which causes withdrawal feelings when one tries to quit smoking. But over time, due to the strong addiction caused by nicotine, these effects get milder, and withdrawals start occurring when you try to quit smoking, which is a thing of concern. Nicotine also causes high blood pressure and increased heart rate.

Nicotine has terrible effects on the human brain. 


1. Cognitive decline: Nicotine causes early cognitive decline. It happens when you grow older. It causes you to forget things or an inability to remember things and think quickly. 


2. Dementia: If you smoke, you are more likely to suffer from dementia than non-smokers. Dementia is a condition that affects memory, thinking abilities, judgment, language skills and behaviour. 


3. Loss of Brain Volume: Researchers found that nicotine can even cause declination in the brain's volume. They found that smoking negatively affects the structural integrity of the subcortical region of the brain. 

Nicotine even increases the chances of strokes.


Though it is very tough to quit a long-term habit, you have to quit it to save your physical and mental health. It requires strong willpower to quit smoking. 


Ways to quit smoking 


1. First of all stop thinking that only smoking can make you stress-free. There are other things too. All you have to do is find other things to replace smoking. You can choose to do regular exercise and meditation, along with having a balanced diet. 

2. You can get support from your family and friends. Ask for the support needed to help you quit smoking. 

3.Avoid triggers linked with your smoking habits. The mind is sensitive to associations. Find your trigger situations and avoid them. 


Remember that leaving habits takes time. Once you have decided to quit it, the progress rate may be slow, but you will win in the end, and that would be the greatest boon to your life.

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