Nicotine Addiction and Mental Health: Breaking the Cycle

Written by: Cheyenne Astarita, Sarah Shank, Jodie Briggs, Molly Green - Truth Initiative

 

Two health crises among youth — a mental health crisis and nicotine addiction— pose increasing threats to a generation of young people. In 2023, over 2.1 million youth reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, including 10% of high school students and 4.6% of middle school students. Among current e-cigarette users, 11.4% of middle school students and 29.9% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes daily.

Meanwhile, over half of young people (56%) have reported some symptoms of depression or anxiety. Recognizing this, in 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General declared a youth mental health crisis, highlighting the need to address the issue affecting more and more teens and young adults.

The Connection Between Nicotine and Stress

There is a widespread, incorrect belief that use of nicotine can reduce stress or provide relief for psychiatric symptoms, which the tobacco industry has actively promoted in their advertising. This may be part of why over twice as many people with depression and anxiety disorders smoke regularly compared to those with no disorders.

The belief that cigarettes or vapes can reduce stress is widespread. 81% of young people in one survey said that they started vaping to reduce stress, depression or anxiety symptoms. Traditional advertising has long associated tobacco products with leisure and socialization; modern e-cigarette and nicotine pouch advertisements even directly invoke the idea of the product as beneficial for mental health.

Nicotine Addiction Can Cause Depression and Anxiety

Young people who start using tobacco products to relieve stress may find it has the opposite effect. Nicotine addiction can worsen stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety in people of any age. Regular nicotine use in young people whose brains are still developing can adversely affect the brain, making the person more susceptible to addictions of any kind by rewiring neural pathways that affect the brain’s natural rewards system.

Nicotine addiction may also affect the person’s ability to focus, often mimicking symptoms of ADHD by harming the person’s concentration, memory and decision-making.

Other worrying connections between nicotine and mental health include:

• Using e-cigarettes at a higher frequency was associated with higher depressive symptoms — including feeling sad or having crying spells — a year later.
• Current e-cigarette users had 1.67 times higher odds and former e-cigarette users had 1.52 times higher odds of reporting at least 1 day of poor mental health in the past month compared to never users.
• Trace metals found in vape liquid may play a role in the potential link between vaping and depression.

Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, which include anxiety, restlessness, and depression, may be temporarily relieved by another dose of nicotine. Many nicotine users mistake this withdrawal relief cycle as a stress-relief effect of nicotine rather than a vicious cycle perpetuated by its use. This pattern is worsened by rising nicotine levels in e-cigarettes, making each disposable vape a potent delivery of a highly addictive chemical.

Breaking the Cycle of Nicotine Addiction

Struggles with mental health do not mean that a nicotine addiction is insurmountable. It is never too late to seek help for an addiction. One survey showed that 90% of people who quit vaping nicotine felt less depressed, anxious and stressed once they were past withdrawal.

Attempts to quit are significantly more successful when they are paired with support and guidance, and some people find that lowering their nicotine intake over time rather than quitting cold turkey is the most successful option. It takes many people 30 or more attempts to quit before success but slipping up does not mean quitting is impossible. Reach out to loved ones who can support you during your quitting journey.

For free help quitting, teens and young adults can text DITCHVAPE to 88709 and anyone can visit BecomeAnEX.org.

If you or someone you love is in crisis, text TRUTH to 741741 to get in touch with Crisis Text Line.

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