It’s the nicotine in cigarettes that makes them exceptionally difficult to quit. When someone consumes a cigarette, vapes tobacco, or uses chewing tobacco, they’re introducing nicotine into their bloodstream. Just seconds after inhaling, the brain detects the nicotine and releases dopamine.
Dopamine is the brain’s way of saying WE’RE H A P P Y, KEEP IT UP.
Over time, the brain begins to crave the dopamine hit that the nicotine induces, generating thoughts and desires toward the image of a cigarette and the repetitive motion of inhaling and exhaling. The brain also rewards us for smoking by emitting concentrated spurts of energy and better focus, as well as adrenaline.
When someone smokes a cigarette, they may not become addicted to nicotine automatically. However, the more you smoke or chew nicotine products, the greater the likelihood that you will become addicted. When addiction does take root, nicotine dependence can look a lot like the following:
- Feeling irritated, anxious, or angry when unable to use tobacco
- Feeling unable to control when, where, and how much you smoke tobacco
- Cravings and tobacco-related thoughts that occur multiple times a day
The public and the healthcare field alike both know well by now that cigarettes are a leading cause of death, just like certain drug-related overdoses in the United States. They pose a significant danger to the body when used over time and can ruin lives just as effectively as heroin or crack addiction can but in more nuanced ways.
What is Cigarette Withdrawal Like?
When you talk to people about their experiences quitting smoking, or when you reflect on your own journey of quitting, you’ll see how difficult it is to put cigarettes down permanently. When someone first begins to quit cigarettes, they typically struggle with strong cravings, anxiety and restlessness, and issues with focus and falling asleep. Later, people report experiencing a range of emotions, moods, and bodily changes:
- Anger and frustration, along with general irritability
- Depressive moods or feelings of sadness
- Weight gain and increased appetite
These symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. More uncommon bodily responses to quitting tobacco can also include constipation, feeling dizzy, coughing, sneezing, and mouth ulcers like canker sores.
We can look at nicotine addiction as a micro example of how addiction works in the brain and how the motions of quitting and recovering can mirror gaining sobriety from other, stronger substances.
If Quitting Cigarettes is Difficult, Imagine Alcohol or Heroin
Many people report that cigarettes are equally as difficult to kick as other substances that they were dependent upon. However, patients also reported that cigarettes were less pleasurable than other drugs, and therefore less of a beast to tackle in recovery.
If you are supporting someone in sobriety, it can be helpful to build patience, tolerance, and boundaries when you understand how difficult cigarettes—and by extension drugs—are to quit. In the same ways that our brain’s reward system shoots out chemicals that make us more likely to smoke, the reward system kicks into overdrive when introduced to harder, more addictive substances.
Relating the challenges of quitting smoking to quitting substances in residential substance abuse care treatment programs in Pennsylvania can be a tremendous exercise in empathy and compassion. It can also affirm the severity of detoxing from drugs that have a much greater effect on the body than nicotine withdrawal.
Quitting Smoking Supports SUD Recovery
Your past cigarette addiction can make you more empathetic, knowledgeable, and supportive as you stand by your loved one in recovery with us at St. Joseph Institute.
We have the treatment programs and resources that you and your family need to eradicate harmful drugs from your life. Not only do we treat a wide range of substance disorders—from cocaine abuse to meth dependence—we also look at the root causes and underlying factors of the addiction. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you and yours live your best lives, both smoke-free and sober.
