Please mark your calendars for 12 December. Many smokers report that cigarettes relieve stressful feelings or that smoking has a relaxing or calming effect. Andy Parrott, of the University of East London, demonstrated how nicotine creates stress by altering mood patterns. The result is smokers only experience normal moods while smoking with the increased stress between cigarettes. Smokers stress levels are similar to nonsmokers only when they have just smoked.
Smoking reverses the tension and irritability that build up during periods of nicotine abstinence.
Due to the repeated cycles of negative mood between cigarettes, smokers actually have slightly above-average daily stress levels. Nicotine is a stimulant, causing increased heart rate and blood pressure constriction - exactly how the body reacts to a stressful situation. Additionally, as a smoker becomes more addicted, he or she needs nicotine just to feel normal. Since nicotine deprivation is stressful, the sense of relaxation comes from reversing the withdrawal symptoms. Thus smoking sets up a vicious cycle that causes smokers to falsely believe smoking is reducing stress.