Smoking doesn't relieve stress... quitting does! Study proves benefits of nicotine are a myth

It is yet another reason to keep that New Year’s resolution about giving up smoking. Contrary to popular perception, smoking does not relieve stress. But quitting does. British researchers measured anxiety levels in almost 500 smokers – before and after they tried to give up.

One in five said they smoked to help them deal with stress. Nationally, the figure is as high as one in two. All took part in an NHS smoking cessation programme, which involved being given nicotine patches and attending two-monthly appointments. 

Six months after signing up for the course, 68 of the 491 were still abstaining – and they were less anxious than before. However, those who tried to give up and failed were more stressed than in the beginning, the British Journal of Psychiatry reports. The researchers, from Oxford University and King’s College London, said: ‘The belief that smoking is stress-relieving is pervasive but almost certainly wrong. ‘The reverse is true: smoking probably causes anxiety and smokers deserve to know this and understand how their own experience may be misleading.’ 

The study was funded by grants fro m the Medical Research Co uncil UK, Cancer Research UK, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS),
the British Heart Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Department of Health.