About Nicotine Addiction

Nicotine addiction should not be taken lightly. Nicotine is 1000 times more potent than alcohol and five to ten times more potent than cocaine or morphine. A one-pack-per-day smoker takes up to 200 hits daily for years. You may want to quit smoking cigarettes but it becomes much easier to continue because of the addictive quality that nicotine possesses.

Nicotine addiction is so powerful because of the way it makes you feel, both emotionally and physically, and because it becomes a part of your daily routine. When you become addicted to smoking, you keep smoking cigarettes in order to achieve the physiological (physical) and psychological (mental) satisfaction that smoking provides.

Unfortunately, the satisfaction that you receive from smoking is very brief and you begin to crave another cigarette in a short period of time. An additional problem that arises is that the more you smoke cigarettes the more exposure you have to nicotine, which results in a growing tolerance for the drug. Consequently, you have to smoke more cigarettes in order to reach that physiological and psychological "high" that your body is craving.

How Nicotine Effects Your Brain

Nicotine interferes with the reward pathways in your brain. Every time you smoke, nicotine stimulates your neurons to release dopamine, the neurotramsmitter that makes you feel good, while also releasing glutamate, the neurotransmitter connected to your memory. So not only does nicotine make you feel good, it creates a map in your brain linking that good feeling back to a cigarette.

Plus, nicotine is metabolized rapidly, so it vanishes from your body completely in just a few hours, which makes you need to smoke more often to continue to feel the same pleasurable effects. That's what makes nicotine addiction so dangerous and sinister; your brain and your body are telling you that you need to have nicotine.

The Effects of Nicotine Withdraw

After you quit smoking and try to beat the nicotine addiction, you may experience withdrawal symptoms, including depression, irritability, difficulty concentrating or sleeping, headache, and tiredness. Treatment for nicotine addiction includes patches, pills, gum, nasal spray and herbal smoking cessation products.

In the end, recognizing the nature of your nicotine addiction, the physical and psychological cravings, can help you to identify and get ready for the struggle you might have to contend with while you are in the process of quitting. Yes, the withdrawal symptoms can be painful but it is better than prolonging the risk to your health and your future.