Does Smoking Cigarettes Relieve Stress? Does smoking a cigarette relieve stress? So many smokers swear to the fact that smoking a cigarette calms their nerves and relieves stress. In times of stress or pressure a cigarette is the only thing that will make them stay calm. Is this true? Is there really a direct correlation between cigarette smoking and stress relief? The researcher does not believe this to be true. Cigarette smoking is not a tranquilizer that will calm you during a time of duress. Actually the opposite is true. The dependency on nicotine is the key to it. The lack of nicotine in your body causes the stress and the cigarette you smoke when you are stressed is only feeding your addiction not relieving stress. …show more content…

The groups would all then smoke the cigarettes and a follow up survey on the way they feel after smoking it and whether they feel calmer. As well as the survey a stress test would be done that measures medical symptoms such as heart rate and blood pressure to determine your actual stress level as was done before the test. In this experiment it will be possible to gauge whether those who smoke a cigarette during a stressful period of time will feel stress relief and whether the stress relief felt is based solely on the fact that it is a return to normalcy brought on by a nicotine addiction being fed In conclusion the researcher does not believe that smoking cigarettes relieves stress at all. Nicotine causes elevated stress levels in smokers and therefore the calming feeling experienced by the smoker after smoking a cigarette is a return to a normal state because the nicotine addiction has been fed temporarily. This causes people to perceive that them smoking a cigarette will in fact relieve their stress. The nicotine causes the stress and does not relieve it. It is shown that people who are trying to quit smoking and lead stressful lives have more urges to smoke than those who do not experience as much stress. Smoking cigarettes is not a stress reliever and for optimal stress relief a person should not smoke cigarettes at all. Smoking a cigarette is only a temporary fix and is not a solution to a stress filled life.