How Smoking Can Affect Mental Health

People manage stress in different ways, and some are more harmful than others. A vice, or an unhealthy coping mechanism, can exacerbate symptoms of your mental health and make your stressors worse. If you are using smoking to handle your stress and cope with difficult situations, you are increasing your risk of harmful health outcomes. Learning how to handle your stressors with positive coping skills will give you back the power in your mental health recovery and help you to stop smoking. West Coast Recovery Centers offers cessation help to help our clients stop smoking to make better changes for their physical and mental health.

Some people may smoke as a way to wind down after a long day. Yet, doing so may be doing more harm than good. The stress and health issues that come with smoking may make you feel worse rather than better. While people may say they turn to smoking to work through stress, they may be making it worse. Understanding how smoking can affect your mental health will allow you to make educated choices in your treatment and activities. 

Smoking and Mental Health

People who struggle with mental health issues are more likely to smoke cigarettes or tobacco products than the average population. Said differently, many people with mental health struggles may turn to cigarettes and smoking as a coping mechanism. People may turn to smoking to help them when they are overwhelmed or to help them get through stressful times. Sometimes smoking becomes associated with having a break. While smoking may help you relax in the moment, cigarettes will heighten your overall stress response in the long-run.

Quickly, one cigarette can turn into a whole pack, and nicotine addiction is very hard to quit on your own. Addiction can affect your mental health and distract your mind from progress. This can make your treatment harder to go through successfully. Adding an addiction on top of mental health struggles can make you feel more isolated and stressed. 

It is important to understand that smoking will not lower your stress, and in fact, it can do the opposite. The effects of nicotine can cause someone to feel shaky and more anxious. Nicotine dependence may also create new levels of stress in your life as you feel that you need to smoke. It may also create health issues that cause you new stresses. Smoking can also exacerbate the symptoms associated with different mental health disorders. 

Anxiety and Depression

Many people with anxiety and depression may feel overwhelmed with stress and their symptoms. Anxiety can cause people to panic, feel out of breath, and be unable to calm themselves down. Some people with anxiety may start smoking because they feel that smoking will give them a break or help them calm down. Studies show that cigarettes can make anxiety symptoms, such as tremors, heightened heartbeat, and feelings of worry, worse. As you struggle with addiction to smoking, you may feel heightened anxiety as you want to smoke more and more. 

Smoking can also affect depression. Cigarettes and tobacco products can heighten the risk of developing depression. It can also worsen depression symptoms. Addictions can make someone more likely to experience suffering, isolation, and health struggles. All of these things may exacerbate the symptoms of depression. It is important to talk to your provider when getting mental health care to learn if there are options for quitting smoking for you. 

Getting Help Quitting Smoking

Learning more about the health risks of smoking can play an important role in the decision to seek professional treatment to quit. While smoking increases your risk of developing lung issues and lung cancer, it can also affect your vascular health and even your brain. When your physical health is bad or you are experiencing struggles, it will affect your mental health. Meanwhile, the stress that smoking can put on your body can make your mental worries seem even more unmanageable. 

When you are struggling with your physical health, you may not be able to take good care of yourself. Addiction can cause physical symptoms that will make it hard for you to make the changes that you need in your mental health. Nicotine and tobacco may also affect the effectiveness of certain psychiatric medications that you need to take for your mental health disorders. 

Stopping cigarette or nicotine use on your own can be incredibly difficult. Smoking is one of the most difficult addictions to break on your own due to the level of nicotine dependence. On top of handling your mental health symptoms and getting into treatment, it may feel overwhelming to think about how to stop smoking. When you are ready, your mental health provider can help to make a plan to help you stop. West Coast Recovery Centers offers individualized treatment to each client who stays with us. If you are struggling with smoking, we can provide cessation aid to help you quit. 

Smoking may cause mental health symptoms to get worse and affect your mental health treatment. If you are struggling with a nicotine addiction, it may be time to talk about cessation aid with your providers. Stopping cigarette use will have many benefits to your mental health and help you stay in recovery. Smoking can make you increase your stress and make your ability to handle external stressors worse. If you are ready to stop smoking, your mental health provider can give you cessation aids and treatment that will help you develop new and healthier coping skills. To learn more about how smoking can affect your mental health, call West Coast Recovery Centers at (760) 492-6509.