How Do I Handle My Cravings?

Cigarette smoke contains high levels of nicotine, which is quickly absorbed in the lungs and delivered rapidly to the brain. This high dose of nicotine from cigarettes makes your brain release chemicals linked to memory, learning, motivation, and habit formation.

This means that the more you smoke, the more your brain links smoking with good feelings, which makes it harder to quit. For most people, regular smoking creates physical changes in your brain that leads to stronger cravings for more nicotine. This process can be more intense for some people because of their genetics, and how their brains change over time.

Your brain often links smoking to specific activities, social situations, needs, feelings, and times of day. When you find yourself in one of those situations, or feeling one of those feelings, your brain expects a high dose of nicotine. These ‘triggers’ then cause an urge or craving to smoke.

Think about how you feel when you get to the end of a meal, or when you feel stressed – that’s your brain telling you to smoke because it has already linked those situations and feelings to a dose of nicotine, which makes it harder to not smoke.

Nicotine leaves your body and brain relatively quickly (within a few hours). As nicotine levels go down, that can cause unpleasant feelings like irritation, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, hunger, and frustration. Inhaling a puff can quickly relieve these unpleasant feelings, which increases the strength of the association of smoking with the specific activity, emotion, or time of day.

It is difficult to quit smoking because your brain gets wired differently – it actively works against you when you try to quit, and any time you smoke, those links get stronger.