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| Nicotine and withdrawal symptoms |
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Reviewed by Gay Sutherland, honorary consultant clinical psychologist
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What is nicotine?
Nicotine is the ingredient that causes physical addiction to
tobacco. It's a stimulant and increases activity in the brain just like
caffeine, cocaine and amphetamine.
It's also a powerful toxin, which is why you probably coughed
your way through that first cigarette all those years ago.
Nicotine in the brain
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Did you know?
When you inhale, it takes seven seconds for nicotine to reach
the brain.
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Nicotine affects every part of the nervous system, including the
pleasure centre of the brain. When smokers are asked why they use tobacco, they
say:
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smoking stimulates and increases concentration.
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smoking helps them to relax.
As a smoker, you might smoke some cigarettes to wake yourself
up (eg the first one in the morning), and others to help you relax or calm
yourself down when stressed.
Nicotine is a stimulant drug, but it works differently in
different areas of the brain. For example, it soothes the limbic system, one of
our most important emotional centres.
Nicotine and dependency
Nicotine is an addictive substance, which means your body gets
used to nicotine and comes to need a certain level to function normally each
day. Any less than this dose and you start to feel snappy and on edge.
Few smokers start on 20 a day, but increase their habit over
time. The usual pattern is to find smoking unpleasant at first, but the body
and brain quickly adapt and you start to experience its enjoyable qualities.
You will then find you need to smoke more to feel these effects. Further into
your addiction, you will smoke to avoid going into withdrawal between
cigarettes.
Nicotine is one of the most dependency-inducing drugs. Even the
good feelings you attribute to smoking, ie improved concentration, are really
due to relief of the withdrawal effects that come on between
cigarettes.
Although people's dependency on nicotine varies widely, once you
become 'hooked', nicotine is so addictive that if you start smoking again after
a period of quitting, you quickly escalate up to your original habit - even
it's been years since your last puff.
It's also why regular smokers can't 'become' social smokers,
because as your body adjusts to nicotine, it will need more.
Withdrawal symptoms and nicotine
A smoker's nervous system becomes accustomed to functioning with
nicotine.
When you stop smoking, the reduced nicotine intake will disturb
the balance of the central nervous system, causing withdrawal symptoms.
The most common withdrawal symptoms are:
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cravings for tobacco
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irritation
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anger
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weight gain
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concentration problems
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depression
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headaches
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fatigue
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constipation
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restlessness
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insomnia
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dizziness
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anxiety.
Fortunately, the majority of these symptoms tend to disappear
after a few of weeks. Some people may experience cravings, concentration
problems and an increased appetite over a longer time period.
Depression after quitting
Many studies have found a link between depression and smoking,
but there's no consensus on why this is so. Some suggest it's the long-term
effect of nicotine on the brain that causes depression, others that it's the
same genes and environmental factors that predispose a person to both mental
illness and smoking.
For some people, smoking is a coping mechanism - a form of
self-therapy. A teenager who starts smoking may remain unaware of any tendency
towards depression or anxiety until they come to quit.
In this way, nicotine 'protects' against these conditions, which
means when you give up smoking, depression or anxiety can begin or worsen. If
so, they shouldn't be seen as part of your withdrawal symptoms, and you should
seek medical help and treatment.
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Based on a text by Karl O
Fagerstrøm, psychologist and researcher
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Last updated 17.05.2005
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