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A note on the stress excuse

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A note on the stress excuse

3 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Bump!

A member gives us something to think about. Does smoking really help to manage stress? We know quitting can be stressful but after awhile you will notice your body and mind feel less stressed when not smoking.

What is your experience? Did you use stress as an excuse to smoke in the past?

Ashley

Here to help :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1853

Hi Working On It & Kristine - great discussion! You've both come such a long way. Realizing how much more calm and freeing life has been since you quit is huge incentive to continue on this new path.

Keep it up!

Vincenza, Health Educator

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 54

This is SO TRUE! That's actually what I remember most from the last, almost year-long quit I had: how calm I felt all the time. Things that would have sent me into a tailspin while I was smoking seemed way more manageable. The feeling of calm is starting to kick in for me now as well. I'm actually also having an awful workday (maybe it's in the water?) and I can taste the fuzziness my mouth would have right now if I'd been smoking my way through it like I used to. Smoking never actually calmed me down. I think I just thought it did because I confused the satisfaction of getting my fix with real calm. If I were still smoking today, I'd be more, not less, stressed, plus I would have gotten less done and done a worse job with the things I did do, meaning I'd start the day tomorrow with even more stress. And then dive into even more smoking. And just keep the cycle going.

I have heard it said that women are especially vulnerable to stress-smoking. I believe it, because I think most women try to do a billion different things at once and be the best at all of them. It's natural to want some kind of outlet from all of that. But smoking isn't an outlet, it's a contributor in disguise.

Anyway, thanks for this post. Exactly what I was thinking this afternoon. I'm going to polish off this ridiculous workday and then just enjoy watching TV and cooking a nice dinner with a good glass of wine. :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1140

Many, if not all, of us have used stess as a reason to light up. Some of the various rationales I've had are: "Family/ boyfriends' family/ work/ etc. is driving me nuts." "If cigarettes don't give me a heart attack, _____ will." "I need to have a cigarette now or someone's gonna get hurt." ...Yep, I had some good ones.

But here's the thing I've noticed. The longer that I'm quit, the calmer I am. The events that used to just tweak me out and send me running outside for a fix just don't have the same power anymore. I truly believe that the nicotine roller coaster was responsible for at least 50% of my stress response.

In the Freedom From Nicotine ebook, I read that stress actually causes blood nicotine levels to drop, and that's why we go running for a smoke when we are stressed. At the same time, that drop in blood nicotine level (i.e., beginning stages of withdrawal) is its own source of anxiety. I think that, as we quit, we still associate smoking with stress relief (since it relieves the stress of an addict's craving), even though it's not really a source of relief for regular life stress. We also associate not smoking with rising anxiety, simply because we've had withdrawal anxiety from not smoking in the past.

Now that I'm nearly a year and half out of the woods, I see how ridiculous the stress excuse is. For example, I just got done with a super crazy day at work. There were all kinds of people in and out of my work space, demanding my immediate attention over this and that. Also, several issues that I need assistance with remain unresolved, and I wasn't able to get the tasks done that I wanted to get done.

When the sweet gods of time mercifually put an end to this workday, I looked up and remembered how I would have previously been chomping at the bit to go running out of the building and across the street to light up. And I would have been insanely frustrated with anyone dumb enough to get in my path with a question, concern, or need.

Today, I was so glad that I didn't have that additional source of anxiety to deal with. Instead, I could just breathe a sigh of relief, and be glad that this mess is over for today.

Life's a lot simpler over here on the other side.

Wish I'd have figured that out sooner.

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A note on the stress excuse