I am currently reading a book called Self Discipline: The Spartan and Special Operations Way to Mastering Yourself by Ryan Hunt. In his book he discusses different things about self discipline and one of his comments about smoking stuck out to me. In his book he said, “Smoking, for instance, makes a person feel calm and helps relieve stress, although it is definitely bad for the health.” I disagree with his statement about smoking relieving stress and making a person feel calm. Having been a smoker for many years and looking back on all the time I spent smoking, I believe that smoking calming a person and relieving stress is a false belief as well as an illusion. If smoking did indeed relieve stress and calm people then why don’t I need it now?
I am of the opinion that the reason a smoker desires cigarettes to calm themselves or to relieve stress is that their dopamine levels are so high from smoking that the cigarette serves to keep those dopamine levels high thus creating the illusion that smoking calms and relieves stress when in reality it is just keeping dopamine levels higher than normal. Once a smoker quits smoking and their dopamine levels return to normal, the person is able to function normally and handle stress just as a nonsmoker does. I am not basing any of this on scientific evidence. These statements are only based upon what I have experienced in my own life from quitting smoking.