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Do you think stress can be a factor when it comes to smoking?

Discussion in 'Tobacco / Nicotine' started by JadeVengeance, May 4, 2015.

  1. JadeVengeance

    JadeVengeance Active Contributor

    I am a smoker myself and I tend to smoke more when I am stressed or under pressure. Is this normal?
    kjonesm1 likes this.
  2. pwarbi

    pwarbi Community Champion

    The same goes for me aswell, I smoke more when under pressure and I think that will be the same for most smokers.

    It's easy to turn to cigarettes when your stressed, it might not help but it seems like it does at the time though.
  3. Hiraeth

    Hiraeth Active Contributor

    Isn't this the case with most smokers? In fact, many a times substances end up being abused when we start depending on them to de-stress us. My cigarette count invariably hikes up when I'm under work pressure or any kind of mental stress. I think it's perfectly natural, under the broad umbrella of smoking being inherently harmful.
  4. Smarty

    Smarty Active Contributor

    Of course, not just a factor but quite often the main reason. Smoking is a great stress reliever (or so do smokers say). Usually it helps them not be nervous, anxious, worried... But as you well know, it has too many negative effects to be considered a good way of dealing with stress. There are so many better ways to do it even though they require a little bit more preparation and training - sport, music, meditation... Smoking is easy and always available... which is why so many people reach to it.
  5. Miaka_M

    Miaka_M Active Contributor

    I think that stress can indeed be a factor. Its like people with chocolate and food, when we're stressed we go to that place that makes us feel at ease and comfortable. Unfortunately, smoking is one of those happy places. Like what Smarty said, there are always many other ways to deal with stress.
  6. rainbowguard

    rainbowguard Senior Contributor

    I think stress is a good factor towards any addiction. When you are stressed out, you want a quick and temporary bliss so that you can forget about the things that make you stressed out in the first place. With tobacco, I think stress is a major trigger because when you are stressed out and want to do something relaxing, the cigarettes will be readily available for you. As the result, you fell into that habit of smoking whenever you encounter something hard in your lives.
  7. miro1231

    miro1231 Member

    That is always the case, with every smoker ever. When you are a regular smoker, the nicotine calms your nerves, it's natural, and of course when you are stressed you would want to calm down, even subcounsciously you will just grab a cig and light it up. Don't pay attention to this, it has a completely scientific explanation, you can look it up if you want.
  8. rightct

    rightct Community Champion

    I've known many people smoking due to their stressful daily routine, and as many people starting out of being too stressed. Stress could be considered among the top 2 reasons for which one starts to smoke, the first one being curiosity.
  9. CallipygianGamine

    CallipygianGamine Community Champion

    I do think that stress is one of the main reasons people turn to smoking. Nicotine has a calming effect, which makes cigarettes instant gratification. It may not be a healthy outlet, but it’s certainly easy.
  10. Femiluv

    Femiluv Active Contributor

    Stress is definitely a factor, and is also a factor in quitting. It's pretty hard to learn to cope with stress in ways other than nicotine when you've been using nicotine for so long. A lot of smokers around me smoke more when under pressure or when they're thinking super intensely.
  11. missbishi

    missbishi Community Champion

    You are definitely not alone there, I reckon that the majority of smokers will say that stress causes them to smoke more. It used to make me smoke more too, now it just makes me use my e-cig more!
  12. FuZyOn

    FuZyOn Community Champion

    My parents both use smoking as a method to relieve stress. I think that yes, some people use it for this purpose but smoker mostly smoke because they're addicted, not because they like it.
    That depends on the person, though.
  13. Domen

    Domen Active Contributor

    I don't know. People say that cigarettes help relieve stress. Honestly I've smoked before taking exams because I was nervous and stressed out because I didn't knew how well I would do. Cigarettes didn't seem to help me relieve stress and calm me down. I guess it's up to the individual.
  14. Tremmie

    Tremmie Community Champion

    Yes, I do think that stress does play a big role in this to be honest. There is a person I'm so worried about who smokes, he has been smoking for 11 long years, and he claims he feels more like smoking when he is bored or stressed.

    I just think he lacks a lot self control... he needs to put his sh*t together and quit already! When he tries to quit he can hardly last a few hours without smoking, that is why I say he needs to put his sh*t together. He needs to really try for reals, not just say: ''Oh my oh my! I really need to quit''.
  15. zaerine

    zaerine Community Champion

    I have not tried smoking but most of those I know were saying that they smoke because they were stress. So, I think it is the most common reason why someone is smoking. Also being depressed or nervous.
  16. kassie1234

    kassie1234 Community Champion

    When I used to smoke, it was definitely in part a stress thing. I think two of the biggest times I was smoking heavily were after a break up, and when I was in a stressful job -- I worked taking complaints for a large bank, and as you can imagine you would get abused over the phone a LOT...also you'd have people with pretty intense complains that required a lot of thinking and a lot of work to get a resolution. I would almost go as far as to say that smoking was simply an excuse for 5 minutes to myself outside the office...sad but true. I think maybe whilst stress isn't the primary reason why people start smoking (for me it was more peer pressure), it becomes a coping mechanism for stressful situations and then it's always used as that fallback.
  17. kylerlittle

    kylerlittle Community Champion

    Absolutely. But stress, is caused by smoking as well. People think going to smoking can calm down stress, it's not true, it's proven otherwise.
  18. Sparkster

    Sparkster Community Champion

    There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that stress, pressure and tension can cause a person to smoke more. It definitely did with me, I know that. I went through years of suffering narcissistic abuse and when I was at my most stressed, I was basically chain smoking. I just couldn't help it. The less stressed I was, the less I would smoke. When you're really stressed out about something, particularly when you're stressing about very serious matters, you seem to not care any more about the consequences of what smoking is doing to you.
  19. bsthebenster

    bsthebenster Community Champion

    Of every quit attempt that I failed, the reason seemed to be that something made me grouchy or stressed and I would, without thinking, run over to the store and grab a pack. I don't know why it is, perhaps our addicted brains are just looking for excuses to get their fix.
  20. amethyst

    amethyst Community Champion

    During all my smoking years, I rarely every reached for a cigarette to enjoy myself. I always smoked when I felt stressed or burdened. In combination with alcohol, I sometimes managed to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in one evening during my worst days. Later on, when I switched to rollies, I smoked less, and also a better quality of organic tobacco. But it didn't change the fact that I still needed my daily dose of tobacco to deal with my problems.