Nicotine Products Relation to Mental Health Concerns

In recent times, mental health has been the forefront of concerns among younger generations around the world. Social media is the modern approach to communication with people from all over the world effortlessly and with little time. People talk about the concerns that outside factors have on mental health but fail to spark conversation on the correlation between nicotine devices and mental health concerns. The American Academy of Pediatrics explains that mental health concerns are classified as “internalizing,” which explain “anxiety, depressive, and somatic symptoms,” and “externalizing” which explains “impulsive, disruptive conduct, and substance use symptoms.” When adolescents smoke, they develop an increased suffrage from both “internalizing” and “externalizing” symptoms. This idea can be narrowed down even further to specific nicotine devices, as the study explains in more detail that the “internalizing and externalizing problems” were “elevated” when in vaping device users versus “combustible cigarette [...] and dual users.” Mental Health concerns can lead to physical health problems such as stroke or diabetes[2] as well as other concerns with substance abuse and suicide.[3]

The direct vape user is not the only person that will be at risk for developing mental health concerns from nicotine related causes. Second hand smoke and furthermore second hand vape can increase “physiological distress,” the random and more widespread mental illness symptoms such as anxiety and depression, by 50%.[4] Second hand smoke is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the “exposure [to smoke] breathed out by people who smoke or from burning tobacco products.”[5] Second hand smoke exposure happens commonly outside of public buildings such as grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants, all of which have a significant amount of traffic. The more elevated the exposure to second hand smoke is, the more elevated the symptoms of “stress, depression, and suicidal ideation are.”[6]

Nicotine, the highly addictive drug found in vaping devices, promotes the continuation of using such devices despite the adverse effects. Nicotine has been found to “stimulate or enhance the release of dopamine,”[7] which is the chemical in the brain that is responsible for the “feel good” sense.[8] This “feel good” sense can be responsible for learned behaviors, in this case smoking, as the brain is making connections between these “rewards” and certain behaviors. When the brain becomes dependent on an addictive substance such as nicotine and suddenly stops receiving that drug, it goes through withdrawal.[9] After someone stops smoking and is going through withdrawal, the person can develop irritability, anger, anxiety, and depressed mood.[10] Overcoming withdrawal symptoms is a difficult situation to manage and often times results in people reverting to old habits. Once this happens, the whole cycle repeats itself resulting in an increase of mental health concerns. Reaching out for professional help is one of the best ways to combat any mental illness and especially substance withdrawal as they will provide you with the encouragement and resources needed to beat the disease of addiction.

Many people turn to vaping as a way of coping with life’s challenges without realizing the dangers that vaping presents not only to their physical health but to their mental health as well. A 2019 study of 30,000 vape users above the age of 18 showed that people who vape have 2.4x higher odds of developing depression in comparison to people that do not vape.[11] As stated earlier, many people, especially teens start vaping to cope with pre-existing mental health concerns or simply the struggles of everyday life. Many teenagers struggle with ADHD, a condition in which it makes focusing more difficult and by vaping, these symptoms can become worse. A study conducted in 2019 found that among US college students, “vaping is significantly associated with higher levels of ADHD symptoms.” It was also found that nicotine dependence is related to an increase in anxiety symptoms. Although vaping might look like an enticing outlet for various difficult situations, the repercussions will create greater issues in relation to mental health.

Mental health is something that is so important to overall wellbeing and putting this at the forefront can have a great impact. There is limited talk about the impacts of vaping and nicotine use on mental health and sparking any conversation will allow for others to realize just how dangerous nicotine can be to mental health. Vaping is not just about physical health but has lasting impacts on every single aspect of health. Taking the time to choose not to vape and to help someone realize how detrimental vaping is will allow for a world where mental health can become a priority in everyone’s life.

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[1]Riehm, Kira E., et al. “Mental Health Problems and Initiation of E-Cigarette and Combustible Cigarette Use .” American Academy of Pediatrics , 28 Mar.2019, https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/144/1/e20182935/76818/Mental-Health-Problems-and-Initiation-of-E

[2]“About Mental Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 June 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm

[3]“About Mental Illness.” National Alliance on Mental Illness California, 26 July 2021, https://namica.org/what-is-mental-illness/#:~:text=Untreated%20mental%20health%20conditions%20can,and%20poor%20quality%20of%20life

[4]Farrell, Kayla Rae, et al. “Passive Exposure to e-Cigarette Emissions Is Associated with Worsened Mental Health .” BioMed Central, 7 June 2022, https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-13470-9

[5]“General Information about Secondhand Smoke.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Sept. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/secondhand-smoke/about.html

[6]Lee, Eunmi, and Ka Young Kim. “The Association between Secondhand Smoke and Stress, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents.” Healthcare , U.S. National Library of Medicine, 4 Jan. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7824241/

[7]Balfour, D. J. K. “The Psychobiology of Nicotine Dependence.” European Respiratory Society, Dec. 2008, https://err.ersjournals.com/content/17/110/172#sec-5

[8]“Dopamine.” Health Direct, Apr. 2021, https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/dopamine#:~:text=my%20dopamine%20levels%3F-,What%20is%20dopamine%3F,send%20messages%20to%20each%20other

[9]https://adf.org.au/

[10]McLaughlin, Ian, et al. “Nicotine Withdrawal.” Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Aug. 2015,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4542051/