Nicotine Addiction in 2022
Consumers of vintage media have surely noticed the presence of cigarettes in their favorite movies or TV shows. During that era, cigarettes were perceived as a harmless “Pick-me-up” like your morning coffee. However, that all changed after 1964 when the United States Surgeon General’s Reports started being published on a yearly basis.
These reports established a strong link between smoking and developing cancer and recognized the nicotine present in tobacco as an addictive substance. (Cummings & Proctor, 2014)
Addiction is defined as a neurological disorder where one engages in behaviors compulsorily, despite their adverse consequences. (NIDA,2020)
Despite the decrease in the number of smokers, more than 8 million people die on a yearly basis due to tobacco use. (World Health Organization, 2021)
Throughout this article, we will discuss nicotine’s effect on both the physical and psychological scales as well as proven approaches to stop smoking.
Physical Level
By now, we know the basics have been covered, the yellowing of the teeth, the heavy coughing, and cancer.
However, the effects of nicotine on the brain are some of the lesser talked about physical symptoms.
Nicotine affects the brain similarly to drugs such as heroin and cocaine, simply by activating the brain’s reward circuit and increasing the levels of dopamine in the brain. (NIDA, 2021)
Nicotine also changes the way synapses are formed especially in areas responsible for attention and learning. It mainly leaves smokers with a thinner cerebral cortex than the one of a non-smoker. (Zhang et al., 2012)
Psychological Level
Based on what was previously mentioned on the effects of nicotine on the brain, it’s no surprise that nicotine consumption is linked to disorders such as ADHD and ADD. (Kutlu, Parikh & Gould, 2015)
One can also not forget the fact that cigarettes give users a dopamine boost, leaving users in a constant search for more of it. It leads to cognitive patterns of increased levels of smoking to get a dopamine fix, and even as a gateway to try on more potent drugs. The failure to meet the desired dopamine levels may act as a catalyst for depression. (Kendel & Kendel, 2014)
However, one must remember that there is a reason why people take up smoking. While the negatives outweigh the benefits, benefits still exist. Smokers report feelings of pleasure, relaxation, and focus. (Heishman, 1999)
How to Reduce and Stop Smoking
Therapies revolving around quitting smoking, function very similarly to therapies that aim to stop the intake of drugs like cocaine.
The first step would be to avoid triggers, which can be behaviors that induce smoking (eating a fatty meal), places that induce smoking (bars and clubs) and minimize the risk of secondhand smoking, which can make smokers crave a cigarette.
Following that, NRT has shown some interesting statics of increasing the chance of stopping smoking by 55% (Boyce et al., 2018)
NRT or Nicotine Replacement Therapy is a method of treating nicotine addiction or just stopping smoking, functioning similarly to micro-dossing.
The main goal of NRT is to put an immediate stop to the negative effects of smoking while giving them the time they need to overcome while using nicotine gum, nicotine patches, and nicotine inhalers to avoid relapsing.
Some Tricks to Help You Quit Smoking
NRT is only the beginning, smoking has stopped but nicotine dependence is still present. Methods proven to help with nicotine addiction include exercising as it is a way to quickly detox nicotine that is present in the body. (Keyworth et al., 2017)
Another one is to focus on your mental health, as smoking is often used in cases of anxiety, stress and worry. Focusing on healthy coping mechanisms that can help manage or reduce stressors would also have effects on cravings. (Lawless et al., 2015)
There are also a couple of cold heart truths that people that are trying to stop smoking need to come to terms with. The first one is that people around you can either help or slow down your recovery, stopping smoking queues such as drinking alcohol need to be taken as seriously as stopping smoking. And that overcoming addiction never stops.
Overcoming addiction is a long road, some have reported that it feels like a full-time job that you need to be constantly aware of in order to overcome. Relapsing is normal, cravings are normal, and feeling like you’re not strong enough to overcome your addiction is normal. However, giving up on yourself is not an option.
But I thought rates of Nicotine addiction were down!
So, do most people, but after going over some of the concepts of this article with coaches and counselors from YouCanQuit2; a USA based governmental organization that offers addiction counseling, a looming threat appeared.
They argued that even though less people are smoking cigarettes, the E-cigarettes industry is booming. They have reported children as young as 14 with cases of nicotine addiction due to how these cigarettes target younger crowds with fruity and sweet flavors and colorful designs.
It seems to be a common threat amongst all counselors who treat nicotine addiction and they still argue that the full extent to which these E-cigarettes can harm individuals is still unknown.
References
Cummings, K. M., & Proctor, R. N. (2014). The changing public image of smoking in the United States: 1964–2014. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 23(1), 32–36. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.epi-13-0798
Goriounova, N. A., & Mansvelder, H. D. (2012). Short- and long-term consequences of nicotine exposure during adolescence for prefrontal cortex neuronal network function. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 2(12). https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a012120
Hartmann-Boyce, J., Chepkin, S. C., Ye, W., Bullen, C., & Lancaster, T. (2018). Nicotine replacement therapy versus control for Smoking Cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd000146.pub5
Heishman, S. (1999). Behavioral and cognitive effects of smoking: Relationship to nicotine addiction. Nicotine & Amp; Tobacco Research, 1(1), 143–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/14622299050011971
Kandel, E. R., & Kandel, D. B. (2014). A molecular basis for nicotine as a gateway drug. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(10), 932–943. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsa1405092
Keyworth, H., Georgiou, P., Zanos, P., Rueda, A. V., Chen, Y., Kitchen, I., Camarini, R., Cropley, M., & Bailey, A. (2017). Wheel running during chronic nicotine exposure is protective against mecamylamine-precipitated withdrawal and up-regulates hippocampal α7 nach receptors in mice. British Journal of Pharmacology, 175(11), 1928–1943. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.14068
Kutlu, M. G., Parikh, V., & Gould, T. J. (2015). Nicotine addiction and psychiatric disorders. International Review of Neurobiology, 171–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irn.2015.08.004
Lawless, M. H., Harrison, K. A., Grandits, G. A., Eberly, L. E., & Allen, S. S. (2015). Perceived stress and smoking-related behaviors and symptomatology in male and female smokers. Addictive Behaviors, 51, 80–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.07.011
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020, July 13). Drug misuse and addiction. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drug-misuse-addiction
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022, March 22). Cigarettes and other tobacco products drug facts. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/cigarettes-other-tobacco-products
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Tobacco. World Health Organization. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
Zhang, D., Gao, M., Xu, D., Shi, W.-X., Gutkin, B. S., Steffensen, S. C., Lukas, R. J., & Wu, J. (2012). Impact of prefrontal cortex in nicotine-induced excitation of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons in anesthetized rats. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(36), 12366–12375. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5411-11.2012
