Studies have found that the use of tobacco starts at a young age, the use of it is at first established during adolescence and young adult life. Approximately 9 out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily have tried tobacco for the first time at the average age of 18. In 2020, nearly 7 of every 100 middle school students (6.7%) and about 23 of every 100 high school students (23.6%) reported current use of a tobacco product in the States. 

What about the mental health of addictive high school and college students when it comes to being addicted to a tobacco product? 

I have asked some people around me who are used to smoking daily, and who can’t live without it. Why do they smoke? They response to me was as clear as it could seem “you will not understand”, “at least, the cigarette doesn’t criticize me when I throw all my troubles to her, she just hears me”, “tobacco became a need, as I eat and sleep every day, I can’t see my life without it”. And when I ask them about the toxicity of the product, they just respond by saying “I don’t care, at the end of the day, we are all going to die right?”

Well, I was just listening to them, without anything or even criticizing them, I’ve put myself in  the place of the cigarette and at the end of the talk where most of them talked to me about their problems and their life in general, I just asked a basic question, saying: “Well after the talk that we had, would you consider me as someone who replaced your cigarette?” And here, none of them responded to my question and started thinking alone…

As they said at first, they wanted an escape from life, putting themselves in a dependence on that exact escape. But with speaking to me everything they would have said to that product, they said out loud to a person who didn’t say anything to them but was just all ears. 

Now, after you have thought about the story that I’ve talked about, here is what I have to say to you, let's see how the brain reacts to nicotine.

Is it the last one that causes the addiction? By its action on the nervous system and the chemical and biological changes it causes in the brain, nicotine is the main culprit in tobacco addiction. It is also at the top of the list for unpleasant effects. Unfortunately, the body gets used to it very quickly and these discomforts quickly disappear, giving way to an addiction that is at least as strong as heroin addiction. 

If we get into the more scientific and neurobiological part, nicotine mimics the action of acetylcholine and attaches to a special type of receptor called the nicotinic receptor. It's like a key system, nicotine is a key very similar to acetylcholine so it can get into the lock, block access and trigger a reaction. By attaching itself to the receptor, nicotine triggers a reaction that probably would not take place if it weren't for smoking. It is this state of desensitization that will be artificially prolonged by continued exposure to nicotine. 

Tobacco addiction, which develops very quickly, comes from the fact that nicotinic receptors are present in very "busy" areas of the brain. Therefore, repeated nicotine stimulation in smokers increases the release of dopamine in certain parts of the brain. 

When the smoker is deprived of nicotine (ex: at night), the receptors regain their normal sensitivity and the smoker feels restlessness and discomfort which prompts him to smoke; these are actually signs of withdrawal syndrome. 

Cigarette smoking is higher in people with mental illness. In fact, nearly 80% of people with schizophrenia smoke!

The cigarette therefore becomes a particularly effective sedative for smokers. On the other hand, if you take the cigarette out, the signs of withdrawal may be more obvious and more present, which is why quitting is more difficult.

To all the smokers reading this, I hope you have thought well to what was said and explained.