“Although smoking may not scientifically reduce stress, mentally it does; whenever a smoker is stressed out, they go outside for a smoke and the cig removes them from their surroundings.”
If smoking reduces stress mentally, then why do all studies show that smokers report higher stress levels? Why do former smokers report lower levels of stress than when they smoked?
The answer is that nicotine is related to the brain neurotransmitter called acetyl-choline. At first smoking first overdoses the brain’s nicotinic acetyl-choline receptors, manifesting as “head rush.” Subsequently, those receptors are temporarily desensitized causing a low in the smoker’s mood.
If at this point the smoker takes another cigarette, his mood state will return to normal. Ironically, nicotine will be attributed only with removing the negative state it has induced.
Over time a psychological affinity develops for the formerly repulsive sensory stimuli (taste and smell) associated with nicotine administration. This psychological affinity eventually replaces mood control as the primary reinforcer of the addiction.