Nicotine: Addiction and De-Addiction Explained
Nicotine, by definition, is a naturally occurring liquid alkaloid which is found in tobacco plant and it is the chief addictive ingredient in tobacco used in cigarettes, cigars and snuff. It is a unique substance with a biphasic effect; when inhaled in short puffs it has a stimulant effect, but when smoked in deep drags it have a tranquilizing effect. This is why smoking can make you feel invigorating at times and block stressful stimuli at others.
Nicotine is harmful not because it causes cancer but because it can addict you to cigarettes, and hence expose people to extremely harmful effects of tobacco dependency.
Nicotine is at least as difficult to give up as heroin.
After inhaling tobacco smoke, nicotine rapidly enters the bloodstream, crosses the blood-brain barrier and reaches the brain within 8 to 20 seconds: first causing a release of glucose from the liver and adrenaline from adrenal medulla. This results in an increase in heart rate, breathing activity, and blood pressure. Indirectly, nicotine causes the release of dopamine in the pleasure and motivation areas of the brain. A similar effect occurs when people take heroin or cocaine and the user experiences a pleasurable sensation. Dopamine is a brain chemical that affects emotions, movements, and sensations of pleasure and pain. If your brain dopamine levels rise, the feeling of contentment is higher. If you indulge on a regular basis, the constant stimulation dulls the pathway.
Your receptors start to pull back into your neurons, where they are very hard to activate, and you start to feel physically ill unless you get some more of whatever you were enjoying or something else equally stimulating. That’s how dependence starts.
The level of nicotine in the bloodstream and how fast that level is achieved are important in determining its addictiveness. In the initial stages of use, more of it is required to produce the same effect in the smoker, a phenomenon called “tolerance” and the drug is reinforcing, meaning that it is sufficiently rewarding, to mess-up self-administration. People who regularly consume nicotine and then suddenly stop experience withdrawal symptoms like cravings, a sense of emptiness, anxiety, depression, irritability etc. That is why people who are trying to quit smoking feel a certain itch to smoke, which leads to relapse.
If you’re looking to deaddict yourself from nicotine, there are a few effective treatments for nicotine dependence.
Medication prescribed by a doctor can help achieve abstinence to smoking to a great extent, for instance medications like nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler, nicotine lozenge/mini-lozenge, nicotine nasal spray, nicotine patch, and varenicline. These treatments used with psychosocial intervention are proven to be especially effective.
These interventions focus on providing support for quitting, helping smokers with problem-solving and developing healthy responses for coping with cravings, negative moods, and other situations that typically lead to relapse.
Nicotine withdrawal is a short phase overall, but it can be intense.
The important factor in de-addicting yourself is finding motivation which keeps you going.
To quit smoking is more of a mental battle than a physical one.
Changing your routine, exercising more, hydrating yourself, consulting a professional and talking to friends and family are good ways to remain focussed on your goal of de-addiction and also keep a track of your progress.
Rishita Setia
