Snus and Anxiety/Depression

[Doc]

I'm a shrink who works with anxiety/depression as a specialty. I noticed that a number of my clients smoked. They often asked if quitting smoking would help with their anxiety or depression. I always answer "no", get rid of the issues first and then tackle nicotine last, and only for health reasons.

So why am I writing on a snus forum? Well, I also fly/teach Paragliding and was flying with some Swiss pilots in a race and I asked what was that stuff under their lips. They told me it was snus. I did the old American thing and told them that chewing tobacco was bad for them, etc, etc. They told me that the stuff had been studied to death and there was no connection to cancer.

Fast forward to the present. With my degree in Psychology I can wade through most research reports and not only get the results but judge if the study was well consructed. Lo and behold those pilots were right!
By far the best summary of the research can be found at:http://www.tobaccoprogram.org/pdf/TC12349.pdf

Never being one to just read about a thing I have tried it myself about 40 or 50 times and have found that I do like the high if I use in the late afternoon, maybe on a walk or something. If I use it earlier in the day, I just get more done, talk more, do more, whatever.

So here is what I want to know: Are many of you using snus in a Psychological way, sort of like a mild antidepressant/stimulant? Does not using lead to anxiety and or depression? I know that there will be a craving, that is expected and not what I'm asking.

Important question: Did many of you start smoking to treat anxiety?

[Soliex]

Hello Doc, Welcome to the fourms!

I will tell you my situation and you can judge from there.

I also was introduced to snus by some Scandinavian friends when I went for a visit to Norway and Sweden back in July of 06. They kept offering me to try snus and I immediately tied it with American chew and heard a lot of negative things about American chew that I held off using it. So, one day I thought I would try it before I left. I got sick the first time and was told that was expected, most people turn away from that point. I gave it another try and found it very enjoyable. I took a tin with me home and mostly shared it with family and friends who smoked hoping I could get them to quit and take this up. I don't smoke but have tried it before, I cant stand the smell and the smoke. Recently I had one of my friends from Norway visit me and I took him into Philadelphia. Before he came I asked if he could bring me some snus because It was so enjoyable. He did, and I have been using it sparingly since he gave it to me. I decided one day to try it on my morning drive. Wow what an enjoyable drive in Philadelphia traffic, hard to believe. It put my road rage tendencies to the curb and I was actually driving the speed limit! After a while I started using it at work and found my productivity to skyrocket when I was using snus, plus I was enjoying it rather than it being another mundane task.

Eventually I started getting a slight craving for it but wanted my supply of snus to last a bit longer and just ignored it. I find myself using it at least once a day now. It almost gives me a euphoric feeling. Besides the craving I do not feel anxiety or depression when I don't have one to use.

Sorry for the long story but hope it helped.

[bakerbarber]

I am concious of the stimulant effect. I purposely use snus before a meeting, and heavily (like two portions instead of one) if I have a big workload on a particular day. I have a stressful job with a lot of responsibility. I love my work and the satisfaction I get from keeping everyhting humming along. However the stigma attached to nicotine dependance in the U.S. pressured me to try to give up smoking.
I gained a lot of weight, lost a lot of hair, and started missing some of the little things at work. People kept congratulating me on not smoking, but I felt miserable and self concious. After a few months, like every other time I'd quit, I started smoking in secret. The whole routine was a joke. The Nic. replacements are garbage. I finally just told everyone the nicotine is part of my life and the extra weight and stress caused by quiting was worse than getting my fix.
I found snus and really haven't gone back to cigarettes, it was a gradual transition for me.
However, with snus the whole delivery is different. Rather than a quick flush from a cigarette that really faded off for me snus enables me to maintain. I am way more productive not having to walk outside to smoke. I'm not missing calls and emails and not worried about smelling like an ashtray. Then I realized, like an epiphany, that my reactions to nicotine were improving my mood as well as my alertness. My brain was staying sharp. I wasn't burning out after lunch, I didn't get that dip in between cigs like I used to. I can keep a portion of snus in nearly all day long if I need to. I can not use one if I don't feel like it. I feel so free of my cigarette routine. I would smoke, "just in case" like if I knew I would be tied up for a certain time period I would run out and have two or three. I had a ridgid smoking schedule that revolved around being terrified of not having my fix. Now no one really knows I'm snusing.
I don't get the disaproving turned up noses and comments like when I smoked.
So yeah snusing has alleviated a lot of stress from my life. And yes I do use it as a stimulant when I need an extra boost.
I wonder if all the well intentioned people who criticize smokers realize the effects their comments have on some smokers. Nicotine addiction is primarily stigmatized as a weakness unlike many other addictions in modern society. So much effort is placed on being negative that the positive attributes assosiated with nicotine go by the way side. I wish "harm reduction" could make it into the U.S. Everyone knows it's the smoke that's bad for you, but if it were so easy to give up there wouldn't be multimillion dollar pharmaceutical companies involved in the business of profiting from a nationalized agenda of fear mongoring. Society has agreed to gang up on one segment of people who choose to consume a legal product. Shame really.

[mwood72]

Doc - I find Snus great for anxiety, depression, relaxation, relief of tiredness and concentration. I also find it a great pleausre Snusing in itself.

[---Nicotinic Acid---]

Re: Snus and Anxiety/Depression

So here is what I want to know: Are many of you using snus in a Psychological way, sort of like a mild antidepressant/stimulant? Does not using lead to anxiety and or depression? I know that there will be a craving, that is expected and not what I'm asking.

Important question: Did many of you start smoking to treat anxiety?

Hi Doc, I admire your spirit.

My tobacco use has a HUGE medicinal element.

I have rather extreme general anxiety disorder, panic attacks, etc. Xanax helps somewhat. But what REALLY helps is coffee and nicotine.

Without nicotine, I get anxiety which leads to full-blown agoraphobia, and experience a bodily discomfort and rigidity that verges on catatonia. With plenty of nicotine I am ALMOST fully functional.

Not using = TERRIBLE anxiety, irritability, feel very ill physically, zero concentration.

[holnrew]

I always started smoking whenever my depression got worse but then quit when I felt a bit better. Last time I quit I used snus as a replacement, but recently I've become extremely depressed again and have been having a few cigarettes here and there as I need a big boost of nicotine I can't get from snus. I think I'm going to get an e-cigarette for when I need that kick.

But yes nicotine definitely does has a beneficial impact on my mood.

[GenuineSpirit]

No, I did not start smoking to treat anxiety. It was peer pressure that I had succumbed to.

Now in the latter yrs of smoking, I have indeed used cigarettes as a stress reducer. I also believe they created anxiety when i hadn't had a cigarette for a while.

Now I started snusing as a cigarette substitute and had no urges to smoke, and also could go extended periods without snus. Based on that I do not feel I use snus in a psychological way, sort of like a mild antidepressant/stimulant.

With that being said, My wife has made the comment that I do not seem on the edge, now that I am using snus. I also notice that I am more alert and sleep more sound.

Snus, tends to help me with the oral fixation I have and the rest seem to be pleasant side effects I can live with.

[cocsp2002]

Doc -

I was a heavy smoker (20-30 cigs a day) for about 7 years. I tried to quit several times, even quitting once for over 2 years! I did notice, however, that when I wasn't smoking, I would get depressed, anxious, and feel almost like I had lost a close friend. When I found snus, I no longer felt the urge to smoke, and I can go long periods (6 hours or so) without snusing. I still get nicotine fits when I don't snus, but they aren't the ravenous, distracting, mood altering fits I used to get when I couldn't smoke. It's more like a gentle tug on my mental sleeve reminding me that, hey, wouldn't a snus be nice right now? I also agree with bakerbarber's comment about 'smoking just in case'. I would often find myself smoking even when I didn't want one because I knew I'd be busy for such and such period of time. Not so with snus. I can either just wait or pop one in when the mood strikes me.

[snusjus]

There are two valid sides to the argument if nicotine actually causes relaxation or if it relaxes by alleviating nicotine withdrawal. I have read the book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking which brings up some very good points as to why people smoke. You can also use the book to understand why you use snus. The basic principle of the book is that you don't actually enjoy cigarettes (or snus), it's just that you feel miserable without them due to nicotine withdrawal (that hunger-like feeling you get when you have not had a dose of nicotine for a while). Even though the book has some great points, I believe that nicotine can also be pleasurable because it is well documented that nicotine stimulates dopamine receptors in the brain and stimulates the central nervous system. I started smoking cigarettes several years ago because I was severely depressed and angry with my life. I have tried and failed quitting smoking so many times that the only way I could stay off them was to pick up the snus "habit". I wish I didn't have to use snus, since it costs money and it adds up over time, but my quality of life is substantially improved because I don't have to think about having a "wonderful" cigarette every single day.

[holnrew]

I find nicotine reduces self harm impulses.

[Slydel]

I started smoking to get the nicotine high. When I went college I used it initially to combat some anxiety. I think that I am an anxious person. I like to be doing something all of the time. When I tried to quit smoking I was terribly anxious...almost like I had a hard time breathing when I went 8-12 hours without smoking. I don't get that terrible feeling anymore because I use snus. I think the high, just like alcohol, is an escape of sorts. I still get a buzz from alcohol and a mild pick-me-up from snus. I wonder if people use nicotine and alcohol to escape from their anxiety but pollute their body to cause more anxiety (physically)? I would bet money on it. Yet, I am too lazy to exercise before work to stay awake and get the physical high from working out. That would be the best solution, yet I think I would still crave my beer and snus at night to unwind.

[holnrew]

I thought that smoking lessened my anxiety but I found on a couple of occasions it triggered a panic attack. With snus the slow release of nicotine is much better.

[RobsanX]

I started smoking mainly due to peer pressure... I've not really experienced depression, but anxiety is fairly common in graduate students like me... :wink: I would definitely smoke a lot during cram sessions, and before exams...

Now that I use snus, I find that it really has a calming and relaxing effect on me... I would describe it as a not quite euphoric feeling, and it's not something that I ever experienced with cigs...

[airwoodstock]

I started smoking because it was cool. (I was 16 back then so, 26 years ago) I started Chewing Tobacco when I was 12 (raised in the great state of Tennessee and used Days-O-Work plug) because my friends in FFA were doing it. I've really never had an issue with depression or anxiety. Now, mild OCD and an addictive personality on the other hand, I could write a book about. :lol:

Seriously though, smoking did calm me down when I was at work but, didn't do anything to help me focus. If anything, it helped to take the focus off what I was working on. Snus does help me to focus because, IMO, I get a steady stream of Nicotine when I use it. Not the nic bullet that smoking gives you and, I don't have to stop what I'm working on in order to get my nic fix.

My team sees a big difference in my attitude and mood since I switched to snus as well. My reactions are more thought out rather than "from the hip" and i'm more rational in my decisions. Sorry for the long post....just wanted to be clear.

[vodkaniac]

I would like to add to this as well.

I recently experienced some significant anxiety/depression associated with a major life change. So significant as to interfere with my day-to-day responsibilities. I was contemplating going back on antidepressants. Up to this point, I had been cigarette free for 18 months, and anti-depressant free for about two years. I did not want to return to anti-depressants (or smoking), so I decided to get some nicotine lozenges. That helped. Then I got hold of some snus, which has helped significantly.

Nicotine is a proven ant-depressant, as well as showing prophylactic use for Parkinson's and Alzheimer’s.

I read the Alen Carr book as well. Still not sure how his theories (which I thought I believed) fit into my experiences as outlined above.