Stress and Smoking

[Dr_Hurt]

Many people don't know if they can handle stress if they quit smoking. Some feel quitting will increase stress. Both are normal feelings. Actually stress is a normal part of life, regardless if a person is smoking or not. If you have found smoking accompanies to reaction to stress, this can be very difficult to overcome. However, many people already handle stress at times without smoking and lived through it.

Stress comes in different flavors: short term (unexpected situations, such as waking up with a headache, or the car in front of you stalls in traffic) or long term stress (relationship problems, work pressures, financial or health worries). The level of stress a person feels varies between individuals. One person may react to the same situation in a different way then someone else. Stress is our reaction to an event, rather then the event itself. What can be helpful is to decide what stress management techniques might work for you (other then smoking). Often people don't recognize their ability to manage problems without smoking, and perhaps feel better afterwords. Smoking may alleviate stress but is not a solution for a problem.

To learn more about the Re-Learn process, visit our 3-Step plan to find tips on handling stress and how to become smoke-free.


Dr. Richard D. Hurt is an internationally recognized expert on tobacco dependence. A native of Murray, Kentucky, he joined Mayo Clinic in 1976 and is now a Professor of Medicine at its College of Medicine. In 1988, he founded the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center and since then its staff has treated over 33,000 patients for tobacco dependence. Send your questions directly to Dr. Hurt at AskTheExpert@becomeanex.org

[sandy-combs]

Most excellent, and I have found that giving in to tobacco only helps to increase stress due guilt and feelings of failure.

[ted]

I started smoking pre-teen years and quit for 10 years. In 1989 my wife was killed be a drunk driver and returned to smoking. I have remarried and this past June I lost my Son, Daughter-in-law and their three children in a horrific traffic accident.
In 1989, my wife's death was my excuse to return to smoking. September 22, 2009 I choose to no longer smoke as a tribute to my family members lost.
Yes, I know stress. Maybe my success as a non-smoker can give assistance to another in similar stress

[richard]

I WAS A NON SMOKER UNTIL 1979 WHEN I WENT TO BASIC TRAINING AND I WAS FORCE TO SMOKE BECAUSE THE OTHER SOLIDER SMOKE..SO I SMOKE! I'M ENJOYING 2 MONTHS OF SMOKE FREE!I IT'S HARD SOMETIMES I'M A TRUCK DRIVER.SO MOST TRUCK STOP DELV.AND ETC. I'M SUROUNDED BY SMOKERS .BUT I KEEP THE FAIITH! I WANT TO PLAY MY GRANDSON SOME BASKETBALL AND MY SON...I'M GOING TO KEEP ON TRUCKING! NO CIGARETTE SMOKER HERE!.RIC

[jwtrocks]

I used to really stress out going into situations where I knew I couldn't have a cigarette, like the movies, going on an airplane,someones house for dinner, or even going to work.
Now its been about 1 year and seven months and find things so much less stressful, deep breathing really helped me after I came off Chantix, then started using the local health club as a safe place. The hardest part wasn't so much not smoking, it was breaking decades old habits. My mind was programmed to THINK I needed the cigaresttes, and once I realized that I didn't, the stresses started to lift bit by bit.
Was just on vacation in London with another friend Richard who I quit smoking with. We both agreed we miss it a little occasionally BUT the benefits of not smoking outweigh the mini spots of percieved pleasure by about 1000 to 1. I do think its important to note that it is percieved pleasure, cause when you think about it, there is nothing really pleasureable about smoking.

[rj_]

Smoking causes stress, when you smoke you stress about suffering withdrawl if you do not have the availability of the next fix. The real truth is when you smoke and suffer a stressful incident the urine goes more acidic which causes niciotine (alkaloid) level to drop which causes withdrawl which makes you stress more ad finium untill one of two things happen, you feed the addiction and top off the nicotine level which eases withdrawl (making you think the cigarette eased stress) OR the nicotine continues to drop causing worsening withdrawl untill all nicotine is out of your blood at about 72 hours (3 days) and you never have to suffer nicotine withdrawl again unless you again feed nicotine into your blood. ....Quit now, and after 3 days be free of the slavery of nicotine addiction forever....RJ Free at Last ...after 32+ yrs.....RJ - Free and Healing for Two Years, Eleven Days, 6 Hours and 15 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 103 Days and 2 Hours, by avoiding the use of 29690 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $6,122.96.

[jonasz]

It does make you feel better, but only for the time being and for the time you first experienced smoking. Nicotine gives you the kick, but withdrawal from nicotine gradually makes you feel worse. It actually causes more stress than it releases.. So why decide to smoke when we know already what it brings back when we get to decide to stop doing it.Even stress/anger probably stands out as your number one smoking trigger, i advice smokers to make some limitations about it.The fact that smoking creates more stress than it dispels will just worsen you taking away yourself from feeling stress. One may have to decide to look for payday loans to but cigarettes or buy medicine fighting stress.

[edith2]

Jonas, this is a website to help others quit smoking, not to advertise payday loans. If you're here to advertise, you need to leave this website.

[carlie]

Okay, Doc.....you've gotten as many comments as you're going to get......the BLOG spot on the front page has been FROZEN for a week now. Over the weekends are bad enough...but now you are into the weekdays !!!

WHY don't you put your articles on the FORUM...not in the BLOGS......people can still respond to you !!!!!!

Thank you for your consideration !!!!