Anxiety
Whether dealing with heroin dependency, alcoholism, or nicotine addiction, anxiety is a common recovery symptom seen with nearly every drug of addiction.[1]
Recovery anxiety can have many sources. Most obvious, nicotine is no longer stimulating dopamine pathways, resulting in declining levels of background or tonic dopamine, thus elevating wanting. That wanting will from time to time be teased by thousands of old replenishment memories, each sharing the false and backward message that the way to end wanting is to use more nicotine.
One study suggests that much of the underlying current of anxiety felt during the first seven days may in part be the product of a mind preoccupied with the risk of relapse.[2]
There, remain mindful that failure is impossible so long as no nicotine enters the bloodstream. And contrary to the primary message of thousands of use memories, recovery is the only path home. Thinking or dreaming about nicotine use does not cause relapse. Use does.
The primitive limbic mind has been fooled into believing that using nicotine is as important as eating food. It may see ending use as danger, almost as though trying to starve yourself to death. A deep internal belief in this falsehood can generate substantial anxiety.
We can also generate, fuel, and feed anxieties on purpose. An addict could easily sabotage his or her own recovery by purposefully focusing on the negative, allowing emotions to fester and build. The plotting junkie mind can then intentionally explode and crash their emotions in hopes of creating sufficient chaos to justify relapse.
Now for the good news. Any undercurrent of anxiety associated with receptor re-sensitization will peak within 72 hours. By then, nicotine's half-life guarantees that you'll reside inside a nicotine-free body. By then, you may begin noticing that both background anxieties and brain function are beginning to improve.
While you may still feel disconnected and foggy for a while (as discussed below), and you're likely to continue to experience cue induced crave episodes (see Chapter 11 - Subconscious Recovery), overall, brain function is now on the mend.
While simple to sit here writing about the benefits of dumping needless anxiety generating fears, and about how there's no need to be afraid of coming home after years or even decades of chemical captivity, I sincerely appreciate that it's easier said than done.
For some, emptying the mind of nicotine may briefly feel like an emotional train wreck. If so, it's wreckage that's quickly cleared, as the brain works around the clock to restore homeostasis (the body's equilibrium or normal).
If we remain 100% nicotine-free for just 72 hours, unless in the grips of self-induced fears and anxieties, we should begin noticing the underlying stream of anxiety begin easing off. By then, billions of brain neurons are basking in nicotine-free, oxygen-rich blood serum. Yes, as early as 72 hours and homeostasis sensitivity re-adjustments will begin bearing fruit.
Anxiety Reduction
As reviewed in Chapter 6, watch your caffeine intake as caffeine intoxication can foster anxieties. And keep an eye on sugar intake as cutting back a bit can have a calming effect too.
Eating smaller portions of healthy foods more frequently should help stabilize blood sugars and prevent having to deal with anxieties associated with the onset of hunger-induced wanting, urges, and craves.
Try this. Take a slow deep, deep breath and then ever so slowly exhale. Feel it? Slow, deep breathing while striving to relax and reassure a concerned mind can aid in diminishing anxiety. And it goes without saying that physical activity and exercise will cause prolonged deeper breathing while stimulating blood circulation.
Accept the fact that you're anxious for withdrawal and recovery to end. It's normal. Now, picture where your healing is gradually transporting you, to a calm, chatterless, and quiet mind that begins experiencing entire days without once thinking about wanting to inhale, chew, or suck nicotine.
A newer anxiety reduction technique is art therapy, the use of painting, drawing, sculpting, or clay modeling. Harvesting the mind's creative juices, it forces surfacing of memories, feelings, and emotions.[3]
Anxiety and Irritability Duration
A 2001 study by Ward entitled "Self-reported abstinence effects in the first month after smoking cessation" may be the most detailed withdrawal symptoms study ever. It provides fascinating recovery symptom insights.[4]
The Ward study found that, on average, anxieties peak on day one (within 24 hours), and that, for most, return to pre-cessation levels within two weeks.
Irritability (anxiety's aftermath) peaks at about 48 hours, while restlessness peaks at 72 hours. According to the Ward study, both should return to near pre-cessation levels within two weeks.
References:
2. Brown RA, et al, Anxiety sensitivity: relationship to negative affect smoking and smoking cessation in smokers with past major depressive disorder, Addictive Behaviors, Nov-Dec 2001, Volume 26(6), Pages 887-899.
3 . Abbing A et al, The effectiveness of art therapy for anxiety in adults: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, PLoS One, December 17, . 2018; 13(12)
4 . Ward, MM et al, Self-reported abstinence effects in the first month after smoking cessation, Addictive Behaviors, May-June 2001, Volume 26(3), Pages 311-327.
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