According to the World Health Organization, 8 million people die due to tobacco every year. India accounts for almost 1.5 million of those deaths. Over 80% of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries, countries that have more poverty and less health infrastructure. These are soul-shattering statistics.

Tobacco is consumed in two ways; Smoking and Chewing. Cigarette accounts for 95% of all manufactured tobacco products. In whatever way it is consumed, the underlying mechanism of addiction is the same. Many smokers spend every ounce of their willpower to quit smoking but lose every day. They get helpless and frustrated. Understanding the addiction mechanism can help a lot of smokers quit this filthy habit.

As soon as you smoke, within a few seconds, the chemicals in the cigarette reach the brain. Once these chemicals get into the brain, the brain releases an intense rush of a chemical called “Dopamine” for a short time. Dopamine is a pleasure chemical that is released by the brain when a person feels good. Throughout the day, this chemical is naturally released by the brain from activities that make you feel good. Be it laughing, having a good conversation, or just feeling joyful. Two natural activities which release the highest amount of dopamine are sex and eating.

When you smoke a cigarette, Dopamine is released in short bursts. This release lasts for a few hours before the brain needs it again. This is the mechanism of addiction. With regular intake, over a period of time, the natural tendency of the brain to release dopamine stops, and the wiring of the brain starts changing. Now you need that cigarette to get that Dopamine to feel good. Natural activities do not provide that feel-good feeling anymore. Ask a smoker and s/he will tell you how s/he smokes after a good meal, good sex, or a good drive. Nothing is complete without that cigarette. It becomes a reward mechanism. The brain does not reward with dopamine until it gets that smoke.

Tobacco is unique. It is both a stimulant and a depressant. Not only do you need it to feel good for nice things in life but also you need it to get over bad things. When you feel anxious or stressed you smoke. Why? Simple, because to reduce stress and anxiety, the brain should release dopamine but it cannot do that without cigarettes. So you smoke.

Everything in life starts and ends with smoking. It robs the brain of the natural ability to process and deal with emotions, feeling, and events. The brain needs it to do its job. The brain becomes a slave to it. Slowly it also overtakes the communication between the brain and the body. The brain cannot send proper signals to the body. Without the smoke, the body starts to be dysfunctional. Agitation, irritation, anger, shivering, blood pressure, and lack of focus, also called withdrawal symptoms, are a result of the brain’s inability to communicate with the body properly in absence of smoking.

This is a very simple way of understanding smoking addiction. There are many more chemicals in tobacco that affect other parts of the brain and the body. It causes serious physical, mental, behavioral, and spiritual problems. From cancer to anger issues to erectile dysfunction, smoking literally affects a person at all levels. Problems go beyond individuals and create social issues. Almost 1.5 million passive smokers, those who don’t smoke but are around smokers, die every year. Not to mention smokers are walking garbage. They always smell rotten.

Smoking has no benefit at all. Promise yourself to quit now.