What is the true relationship between smoking and anxiety? During the past several years, research has shown a strong correlation between lower risk for relapse and longer periods of abstinence, being directly related to smoking cessation during the detox phase of drug and alcohol recovery. I have found that clients often assume that smoking helps relieve their anxiety symptoms. When the truth is, the anxiety is usually a major symptom of nicotine withdrawal. So the anxiety they think they are relieving by smoking is actually being caused by the smoking in the first place.
What’s also important about quitting smoking during drug and alcohol detox is that a key element of a successful recovery is developing a healthy lifestyle. Research has shown that mere abstinence from drugs and alcohol alone is often times not enough to maintain a lasting recovery. And unfortunately, many people entering recovery are smokers. According to FacesandVoicesofRecovery.org, between 70-80% of people entering addiction treatment, smoke cigarettes.
It was thought for a while that trying to quit using drugs or alcohol at the same time as smoking added too much unnecessary stress and could hinder recovery. But what science is showing us and from what I’ve seen in working with clients, the opposite is true. Not quitting smoking while in detox can jeopardize recovery. Not only is smoking harmful to the body, but it increases anxiety (especially in individuals who smoke “to cope”), and it continues to interfere with the chemistry in the brain (such as dopamine).
When it comes to smoking and anxiety, I’ve seen a number of clients who were diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder and decided to quit smoking cigarettes during their drug and alcohol detox. Many of these clients after about six months reported that their Anxiety Disorder no longer existed. A majority of their anxiety was attributed to their smoking, and their anxiety became insignificant after stopping tobacco use. To give yourself the best advantage to continued sobriety, it is advised to quit smoking during detox.
