Smoking addiction is caused by nicotine entering the bloodstream and brain, triggering a pleasurable response. Continued addiction is established when the brain creates more acetylcholine receptors, requiring greater amounts of nicotine. Social and psychological conditioning also reinforces addiction. Quitting can cause physical and psychological problems.
Quite simply, smoking addiction is caused by the nicotine in tobacco and how the nicotine enters a smoker’s bloodstream and brain. Just as oxygen passes into the lungs and then into the blood, so smoke and nicotine pass into the lungs and blood of a smoker, and then pass through the bloodstream to the brain. Once in the brain, smoking addiction is established by how nicotine affects the brain, creating a physiological change and addiction to nicotine. This is typically reinforced through social and psychological conditioning where the action of smoking becomes further associated with enjoyment and relaxation.
Smoking addiction literally begins with the first inhalation of a cigarette or tobacco-like product. Nicotine is contained within the tobacco leaf and is a carcinogen that acts as tobacco’s natural defense against insects and other potential infestations. Nicotine passes from tobacco through smoke into the lungs of a smoker, or into the mouth of a tobacco chewer or non-inhaling pipe smoker or cigar smoker, and then into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, nicotine travels quickly to the brain. Although a person’s first inhalation of a cigarette is accompanied by coughing, nausea and other potential ailments, within about 10 seconds the nicotine has reached the brain and triggered a pleasurable response.
In a person’s brain, nicotine fits into neural receptors that are typically used by a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is responsible for a number of different neurological chemical processes in the brain, including the release of dopamine and similar pleasure center stimuli. This means that when nicotine reaches a person’s brain, it triggers an immediate pleasure response. Continued addiction to smoking is established when the brain attempts to deal with the flow of nicotine by creating far more acetylcholine receptors, which nicotine is then able to use.
Increased receptors, however, often require greater amounts of nicotine to trigger the pleasure response. At this point, a person has succumbed to the smoking addiction and their brain has now made real physiological changes to continue dealing with the nicotine. This is why quitting is often accompanied by physical and psychological problems such as headaches, nausea, irritability and mood swings. While quitting, a person is literally starving their brain of a chemical that the brain expects as a normal part of day-to-day operations.
Smoking addiction is typically further reinforced by psychological and social conditioning, established by the association of smoking with pleasurable activities. When a person smokes after every meal, he conditions his body to expect that chemical and neurological rush after the meal. Once conditioned, the person will naturally expect to feel the physical high of nicotine in their system after each meal. That’s why smoking addiction is so often a social and mental problem, as well as a physical one, because a person teaches their body to associate the chemical response with other activities.
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