Smokers frequently credit their cigarettes as a source of stress relief or a way to calm their nerves. But research from the University College London and the British Heart Foundation has indicated that not only is that not true, smoking can actually be the cause anxiety and depression.
More than 18 percent of smokers in the study reported having anxiety and depression, according to The Huffington Post, compared to just 10 percent of non-smokers and 11.3 percent of ex-smokers.
“The perception of a cigarette relieving stress is a misinterpretation of what’s actually happening — what you’re really experiencing when you light up a cigarette is the early signs of withdrawal,” Mike Knapton, associate medical director for the British Heart Foundation, told The Huffington Post. “Those symptoms of withdrawal are very similar to stress … The cigarette will relieve those symptoms, and you think that it’s making you feel better, but all it’s doing is abolishing the early signs of nicotine withdrawal. Then of course this cycle goes on cigarette after cigarette.”
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According to Knapton, a BHF survey conducted last year found that a third of U.K. smokers claimed they couldn’t quit because they believed smoking actually reduced their anxiety.
“If you think the smoking is managing your stress, it isn’t — it’s making it worse,” he said. “This report abolishes that myth.”