A nicotine addiction is not easy to overcome. Although the physical dependence is over after days or at the latest within a few weeks. But the psychic addiction remains stored in the mind for a long time. Who does not get rid of cigarettes & Co. alone, should seek help: Nicotine replacement drugs help to overcome the physical withdrawal. But even more important are psychological coping strategies. Read all important information about nicotine addiction here.
Nicotine addiction: description
For decades advertising has presented smokers as attractive, free and cosmopolitan people. This picture is still in many minds despite intensive efforts to educate. In fact, most tobacco consumers are simply addicted to nicotine. The chemical from the tobacco plant affects both the body and the psyche of the smoker. Cigarettes can have a calming, but invigorating effect. The danger of smoking becoming addictive is high.
Tobacco use is then no longer a choice, but arises from an inner compulsion. At the latest then it is over with the enjoyment. If the victims try to reduce their consumption or stop altogether, a fight begins with themselves. Even the best intentions can not be kept, because the desire is too strong. This dichotomy creates stress. The handle to the cigarette runs as automated and should reduce the pressure. Addiction is a vicious circle that can often only be broken by outside help.
Nicotine addiction: passive smoking
Not only for smoking itself is the smoke dangerous. Even people who inhale the smoke passively, may suffer damage. It is especially dangerous if women smoke during pregnancy. This increases the risk of premature birth, newborns often have a lower weight at birth and more often suffer a sudden infant death syndrome. Nicotine also enters the baby’s organism through breast milk. The more a mother smokes, the higher the concentration in breast milk. Even children who are passively exposed to smoke, take damage. They suffer more often than other children from respiratory diseases, pneumonia and middle ear infections.
Nicotine addiction: how many are affected?
About 29 percent of adults in Germany smoke. That’s about 20 million people. Of the men, about 31 percent are cigarette users, and about 26 percent of women.
For young people between the ages of 12 and 17, the number of smokers has fallen significantly since 2001, when it was still 28 percent. After the last surveys in 2014, it has now dropped to just under 10 percent. Boys smoked slightly more often than girls (11 versus 9 percent).
Nevertheless, nicotine addiction remains a common addiction. Smokers shorten their lifetime by using tobacco for about ten years. About 140,000 people die each year in Germany as a result of smoking.
Most of the tobacco consumed in this country is in cigarettes – with or without filters, made from the box or even turned or stuffed. Cigarillos, cigars, pipes, snuff and chewing tobacco as well as water pipes play a subordinate role.
Nicotine addiction: Toxic haze
Starting material of the raw tobacco are dried leaves of the tobacco plant. Consumable – as a smoking, chewing or snuffing tobacco – the plant is only after industrial processing. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 ingredients. The most important ingredient is nicotine. Depending on the origin of the plants and preparation of the tobacco, the smoker, sniffer or chewing gets different amounts of the toxic chemical compound. In addition to nicotine, many other chemicals and heavy metals are found in tobacco smoke, such as hydrogen cyanide, benzene, formaldehyde, hydrazine, vinyl chloride, cadmium, lead, nickel, chromium, aluminum and carbon monoxide. More than 40 of these substances have been shown to cause cancer.
Nicotine addiction: symptoms
According to the classification of mental disorders in the ICD-10, the diagnosis of nicotine dependence over a period of one month or repeated within one year must meet at least three of the following criteria:
- A strong desire (craving) or compulsion to consume the tobacco.
- Limited control over the beginning, ending and amount of consumption.
- Appearance of physical withdrawal symptoms when consumption is reduced.
- Tolerance development: Consumption must be increased in order to achieve a consistent effect.
- Abandonment or neglect of interests due to substance use.
- Continuing tobacco consumption despite obvious harmful consequences.
As the body gets used to nicotine, the person has to consume more and more to feel the same effect. Typical withdrawal symptoms are then an increased excitability and restlessness. Many smokers believe that nicotine reduces anxiety, but it does actually make them stronger in the long term. Other withdrawal symptoms are a lower ability to concentrate, feelings of hunger and sleep disorders and anxiety.
Smoking: health consequences
While nicotine is responsible for the effects and addictions, the other chemicals in tobacco smoke primarily harm your health. The consequences of smoking affect the health of the entire body. In many cases, smoking is even responsible for premature death.
So are the respiratory tract a smoker is exposed to massive chemical pollution. The possible late damage of nicotine addiction therefore range from chronic bronchitis to lung cancer. In addition, smoking promotes arteriosclerosis (atherosclerosis), which can cause serious circulatory problems.
Smoking also raises the blood pressure and thus promotes Diseases of the heart and vessels, Dreaded long-term effects of nicotine addiction are about coronary heart disease (CHD), heart attack and circulatory disorders of the leg arteries (“smoker’s leg”). Other consequences are diabetes (Type 2 diabetes) as well Skin and tooth damage.
Last but not least, smoking also increases the risk of cancers, This is especially true for lung cancer, throat cancer, esophageal cancer and oral cancer. Nicotine use also plays a role in the development of other malignant tumors, for example in pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer and leukemia. About 25 to 30 cancer deaths are due to smoking.
Nicotine addiction: causes and risk factors
Nicotine addiction arises from the influence of various psychological and biological factors. Nicotine produces both physical and mental dependence.
Nicotine addiction: smoking as a learned behavior
Most of those affected started smoking during childhood or adolescence. Out of curiosity or peer pressure they reach for the cigarette. Many also drown their insecurities with the cigarette in their hands.
The first cigarette still does not make you feel good. Because the body reacts to the first nicotine doses like a poisoning: with dizziness, increased salivation, tachycardia, headache, nausea, even vomiting or diarrhea and impaired consciousness. But many young people feel “cool” when smoking and accept the initially unpleasant taste and side effects. The positive group feeling that comes from smoking together boosts social consumption.
Even in adulthood, the jointly smoked cigarettes fulfill a social purpose. Smoking in work breaks and after eating links nicotine consumption with a sense of relaxation and enjoyment. Once the connection between smoking and certain situations is learned, the handle to cigarette after eating or when going out almost automatically.
Nicotine addiction: biological factors
Nicotine addiction arises when our natural reward system is manipulated in the brain. The reward system is vital. For example, it rewards us for eating when hungry. In addition, it releases the messenger dopamine, which gives us a good feeling. By consuming nicotine, more dopamine is released. The grip on the cigarette is therefore rewarded as well as eating, drinking and sex. Those who smoke regularly, however, overwhelm the system. The previous amount of nicotine is no longer sufficient for a positive effect. This development of tolerance and the associated withdrawal symptoms characterize the physical dependence of nicotine addiction. The body is increasingly demanding more nicotine.
Nicotine affects the psyche through the release of messenger substances. One speaks of a psychotropic effect. Nicotine increases attention, supports memory and increases stress tolerance. At the same time it lowers the level of aggression, reduces arousal and reduces the feeling of hunger. Depending on the mood of the smoker, nicotine may have a calming effect (for example in stressful situations) as well as stimulating (for example in case of tiredness). The person is mentally dependent if they think they really need the cigarette.
If there is a physical and psychological dependence, it is hardly possible for those affected to control consumption. The unpleasant withdrawal symptoms of nicotine addiction, which occur as soon as the nicotine level decreases, determine when the next cigarette will be smoked.
Nicotine addiction: examinations and diagnosis
If there is a suspicion of tobacco addiction, you can first visit your family doctor. For the diagnosis of nicotine addiction, these questions will ask about your tobacco consumption. The Fagerström questionnaire, which can be used to measure the severity of nicotine addiction, is very well-proven. The Fagerströmtest contains among other things the following questions:
- How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?
- Are you having trouble not smoking when you are in places where smoking is prohibited?
- How soon after waking up do you smoke your first cigarette?
The doctor will also check physical condition to determine if the nicotine addiction has already resulted in consequential damage. If necessary, these must be treated.
If you have a severe case of nicotine, the doctor will recommend a therapeutic treatment. If the person concerned is motivated, less intensive relief measures can also be effective. The doctor informs you about the various smoking cessation offers for nicotine addiction.
Nicotine addiction: treatment
To treat a nicotine addiction from nicotine patches to psychotherapy, various options are in question. However, tobacco dependence is not yet considered a disease but self-injurious behavior. The health insurance companies do not pay for the treatment of nicotine addiction. If it goes according to the experts, the nicotine addiction would have to be treated like any other addiction. Many doctors therefore demand that the smoking cessation in nicotine addiction is paid by the health insurance companies.
Nicotine addiction: motivational treatment and short interventions
A short intervention to treat nicotine addiction usually takes place at doctors or in addiction counseling centers. For this purpose, the smoking behavior is first detected and then the motivation to quit. The smoker is aided by short motivational conversations in his abstinence from nicotine. Telephone counseling and self-help groups also provide effective help in combating nicotine addiction.
Nicotine addiction: Therapeutic treatment
For smoking cessation, especially behavioral group and individual intervention have proven successful. In behavior therapy, the behavior of the person affected is analyzed and alternative behaviors are developed. For example, the therapist will ask what conditions and situations are causing the person to smoke. Often there is a connection with stress, which should be reduced by the cigarette. The therapist helps the patient to find other ways to deal with stress. Relaxation techniques and the strengthening of the social network play an important role in this.
Nicotine addiction: nicotine replacement therapy
Another option for smoking cessation is nicotine patches, chewing gum, inhalers or sprays. They provide the body with a certain amount of nicotine. The nicotine patch continuously releases nicotine. Depending on the previous consumption, a high dose of nicotine is first started and slowly reduced. The nicotine patches first keep the level of nicotine in the body upright, so that the withdrawal symptoms are not so strong.
Nicotine gums and nicotine mouth sprays do not work continuously but are slightly delayed after ingestion. Nicotine nasal sprays are best used to mimic the effects of the cigarette, but for this reason they are more addictive.
The physical dependence of nicotine addiction is over after about two weeks. However, the mental dependency persists and needs to be treated to avoid relapse. How long the craving persists is very different. In many cases, however, nicotine replacement therapy is an effective way to support a permanent tobacco waiver.
Nicotine Addiction: Further action
Anyone who starts smoking cessation should consider a plan to structure the day. Distracting activities are an important support. In particular, sports facilitates abstinence. On the one hand, those affected feel an improvement in their condition and breathing is easier. On the other hand, sport triggers the release of messenger substances that create a feeling of happiness. Friends and family can also make an important contribution. The people should be informed about the smoking cessation, so they can support the person affected.
Nicotine addiction: course and prognosis
The earlier smoking is started, the greater the risk of becoming addicted and causing long-term damage. Teenagers who use their cigarettes very early also consume alcohol and drugs. It is therefore important to protect children and adolescents from nicotine in particular. As a good role model, adults can have a positive influence on younger generations.
An important prerequisite for the success of smoking cessation is the motivation of the person affected. After prolonged abstinence, the risk of relapsing decreases. Nevertheless, vigilance is still needed after years. Certain smells or situations can bring back the memory of the good feeling with the cigarette. The decision against the nicotine addiction must therefore always be taken again.