no, smoking does not relax you, and it is quite the opposite according to this addictologist

HEALTH – After an argument, before an exam or a job interview… When a smoker is stressed, they may want to go out for some fresh air and light a cigarette, to which we sometimes attribute anxiolytic or relaxing properties. It is “a received idea”warns the addictologist and tobacco specialist Hervé Martini, also secretary general of the Addiction France association, to whom HuffPost asked the question.

However, some people have the impression that smoking reduces their stress. This is for example the case of Héloïse, a 26-year-old from Brussels, who confides HuffPost smoke regularly for this reason. “When I have a big problem at work, my instinct is to go have a smoke to relax and resolve the situation afterwards. Otherwise, I’m too stressed and I can’t get over it.”she explains.

Two reasons explain this supposed anti-stress effect. And these are in no way virtues linked to the products contained in a cigarette.

Fill the gap

To fully understand why cigarettes don’t really relax you, we must first review how tobacco addiction works. There are three aspects to this dependence: the so-called pharmacological one, that is to say the physical lack of nicotine in the body; behavioral dependence, which brings together all the habits adopted by the smoker who associates certain moments with cigarettes; and finally psychological dependence on cigarettes – in other words, the benefits that we psychologically associate with tobacco.

Pharmacological dependence plays a role in this feeling of relaxation. When the smoker feels the craving and lights a cigarette, he will have “a feeling of tension that will temporarily ease”, because he had the nicotine he needed, according to Hervé Martini. Some smokers will think that cigarettes relax them. In reality, it only calms their withdrawal syndrome.

A constructed idea

The second reason must be looked for in psychological dependence. “After a conflict, a heated argument or at the end of any stressful moment, the smoker will have a cigarette and feel relaxedexplains the tobacco specialist. What will relax you is getting out of the room and the anxiety-provoking situation, or talking with another person. »

Problem: the brain then makes the association between relaxation and cigarettes. A psychological dependence will therefore set in, and the smoker will build the idea that cigarettes have anxiolytic properties.

Héloïse is well aware that smoking does not really calm her down. “I don’t know if it’s really the cigarette that relaxes me. I would rather say that it’s going out to get some fresh air and think about something else for five minutes.”concedes the young woman.

Another argument put forward by some smokers: they would be relaxed by the act of blowing when they exhale the cigarette smoke. This time, it’s really true. But the person would rather do “a breathing exercise instead”indicates Hervé Martini.

An obstacle to quitting smoking

The cigarette itself therefore has no de-stressing effect. And it’s even the opposite, according to the tobacco specialist: “Nicotine is a stimulant, a stimulating product which will generate an increase in heart rate. Tobacco causes stress and anxiety. »

Thinking that cigarettes are a means of relaxation can be an obstacle to quitting smoking. “ The smoker must try to deconstruct this idea”explains Hervé Martini, who specifies the role of the tobacco specialist: “We make him work on behavioral things so as not to reach for a cigarette when he is stressed. We try to identify stressful situations, and we consider other solutions, such as breathing exercises, meditation or relaxation. We try to distract the brain from smoking cigarettes. » But the definitive stop passes above all by ” awareness “ from the smoker.

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