Cigarette Smoking's Health Consequences Cigarette smoking is responsible for 90% of lung cancer occurrences in the United States, with around 38,000 deaths due to secondhand smoke each year (NIDA, 2009). Lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchial diseases are all increased by tar in cigarettes.
Before You Continue...
Do you know what is your soul number? Take this quick quiz to find out! Get a personalized numerology report, and discover how you can unlock your fullest spiritual potential. Start the quiz now!
How does smoking impact wellbeing?
- raise your risk of developing a variety of illnesses and disorders, as well as dying prematurely
It can take a long time for smokers to develop a smoking-related disease or condition. As a result, some people assume it will never happen to them.
- Compared to non-smokers, smokers' lives are cut short by roughly ten years on average.
Additionally, there is mounting evidence that smoking has a harmful influence on mental health. Smoking, for example, has been linked to higher incidence of anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicide attempts, and schizophrenia in several studies.
What does it mean to have good spiritual health?
Spirit is that which cannot be classified as a part of the body or the mind. The effects of the body, mind, and spirit are all intertwined. You can help the healing process by increasing your spiritual life. Although spirituality cannot cure you, it can help you cope with the pain and problems that come with disease. When you are at peace with life, you are spiritually healthy. It's when you can find hope and comfort even in the most trying of circumstances. It may be able to assist you in fully experiencing life. Everyone's spirituality is unique.
What is spiritual well being?
Spiritual well-being is sometimes misinterpreted. It refers to the human yearning for meaning, purpose, and connection to something higher than ourselves, not to any particular religious or spiritual practice or belief. This part of our well-being can be addressed by following a religious faith, having a strong emotional connection to nature, or having a strong interest in our career. It is a very diverse and often individualized element of health, but some would say that it is the most essential, providing context and meaning to all other aspects of ourselves and our lives. We will provide some advise on the following themes in this section.
Does smoking affect your mental health?
The majority of smokers say they wish to quit, yet others do so because it relieves tension and anxiety.
It's a frequent misconception that smoking relaxes you. Smoking, on the other hand, increases anxiety and tension.
Why it feels like smoking helps us relax
When a smoker hasn't had a cigarette in a long time, the desire for another makes them irritated and anxious.
When they light up a cigarette, these symptoms are temporarily alleviated. As a result, smokers link a better mood with smoking.
In fact, it's likely that the effects of smoking are what produced the anxiety in the first place.
How does smoking affect your brain?
Higher IQ and greater cognitive performance are linked to brain size and volume. Adult males have a brain volume of 1260 cubic cm, whereas adult girls have a brain volume of 1130 cubic cm. According to a 2017 study, the longer you smoke, the less volume your brain has and the more essential tissues shrivel up.
Subcortical brain areas are affected by smoking. Pleasure, hormone production, emotion, and memory are all linked to the subcortical parts of the brain. As a result, smokers experience age-related brain volume decrease, which increases their risk of dementia.
Does smoking increase brain activity?
Most people are aware of the effects of smoking on the lungs and heart, but few are aware of the effects of nicotine on the brain.
“Nicotine is a neurotransmitter that mimics numerous neurotransmitters in the brain.
“Signaling rises in the brain because it is similar in form to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine,” explains Lori A. Russell-Chapin, PhD, professor at Bradley University's Online Masters of Counseling Program.
She explains that the brain gradually reduces the number of acetylcholine receptors to compensate for the increased signaling activity. Nicotine tolerance develops as a result, necessitating the usage of more nicotine in the future.
Nicotine also activates the brain's pleasure regions, simulating dopamine, causing your brain to equate nicotine usage with feeling good.
The nicotine in cigarettes alters your brain, leading to withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit, according to the National Institutes of Health. You may have a range of adverse effects as a result, including anxiety, irritation, and a strong desire to smoke.
Unfortunately, many people seek for another cigarette to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms when these symptoms occur.
Because your body is accustomed to having nicotine in your bloodstream, the changes that occur in the brain as a result of this cycle establish a dependence on nicotine, which can be difficult to overcome.
While nicotine's effects may take some time to manifest, harmful side effects to the heart and lungs are likely to be the first that a smoker would notice.
How does spirituality affect health?
Spirituality is a way of life that gives you meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace. Religion is a source of spirituality for many people. Music, art, or a connection with nature are some of the ways people find it. Others find it in their principles and values.
How is spirituality related to health?
No one knows for sure how spirituality and health are linked. The body, mind, and spirit, however, appear to be linked. Any one of these factors' health appears to have an impact on the others.
According to some research, your beliefs and your experience of well-being are linked. Religion, meditation, and prayer can help people feel better by providing them with positive beliefs, comfort, and strength. It may even aid in the healing process. Improving your spiritual health may not be able to cure your condition, but it can certainly make you feel better. It may also help you cope better with illness, stress, or death by preventing some health problems.
What are 4 examples of spiritual health?
The qualities that are most important to you are your own values. Consider what you admire about yourself and the individuals you admire.
List your top five values, along with why they are important to you and how you implement them into your life. Kindness, honesty, security, ambition, and community may be important to one person. It might be cheerfulness, empathy, loyalty, adventure, and learning for another.
Start a Yoga Practice
You can attempt a variety of yoga activities, but the majority of them incorporate breathing exercises, meditation, and physical activity.
Yoga is a tried-and-true method of improving your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Yoga can improve your strength and flexibility while also reducing tension, despair, and anxiety symptoms.
Meditate
Meditating, like yoga, has physical, emotional, and spiritual health benefits. Meditating for as little as five minutes a day can help with stress, sadness, and anxiety symptoms, as well as promote mindfulness and possibly alleviate physical ailments such as headaches, high blood pressure, and sleeplessness.
A guided meditation software like Calm or Headspace, both of which have free trials, can be beneficial.
Keep a Journal
Create a specific type of notebook, such as a thankfulness journal, or write whatever you're feeling at the time.
Journaling can aid in the processing of emotions, increasing self-awareness, achieving goals, and reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. Journaling is cathartic and allows you to reflect on your life events and feelings in a private, nonjudgmental environment.
Try Googling “journaling prompts for spiritual growth” to get started. Journaling prompts are questions or activities that you can use as thought openers to help you become more self-aware. According to research, concentrating on appreciation can help you:
Practice Mindfulness
When you're attentive, you concentrate on the current moment rather than the past or future. Breathing exercises, praying, or repeating a mantra are all options. Mindfulness has physical, mental, and spiritual advantages that are similar to yoga, meditation, and journaling.
Spend Time in Nature
Spending time in nature, whether hiking, walking, kayaking, or biking, can improve your spiritual health. Nature can help you relax, be happier, improve your attention, strengthen your immune system, and even boost your creativity.
Digital Detox
How much time do you spend on your phone, at your computer, or watching TV? There are a slew of mental health benefits to going on a digital detox, like being able to focus on the present without being distracted and falling asleep more easily at night if you don't use technology immediately before bed.
Try disconnecting from electronics for a day or simply a few hours to focus on yourself and interact with friends, family, and your partner.
Step Away From Social Media
It may be beneficial to take a vacation from social media if you find yourself feeling sad, angry, resentful, jealous, or any other negative emotions after browsing through your Instagram account.
While social media can be a useful tool for keeping in touch with friends and family and for making new connections, it can also be a source of social comparison for many people. Keep in mind that social media is nothing more than a highlight reel of other people's life.
Volunteer in Your Community
Find a cause that you care about and ways to contribute. For example, you could foster a puppy or cat, volunteer at a food bank, or mentor or tutor a kid.
Joining a volunteer organization can help you grow your community and meet people who share your interests. Volunteering benefits others and gives you a sense of accomplishment.
Do a Good Deed
Even modest gestures, such as paying for the person in line behind you's coffee, can raise your mood.
Consider how you may support a friend, family member, coworker, or someone else in your life with tiny deeds. You may volunteer at a local retirement home, clean up a park, write a letter of gratitude to a loved one, or donate to a non-profit that shares your interests and values.
Develop Hobbies
Discover activities that you enjoy, such as painting, athletics, cooking, gardening, photography, or working out.
Hobbies provide you with delight as well as a sense of purpose. Here are some things to think about if you're not sure what you want to do for a hobby:
Some hobbies can be done alone, while others can be done with friends and family or to meet new people.
After you've tried a few of these 12 activities, figure out which ones work best for you and include them into your daily, weekly, or monthly routine. The more constant you are with your spiritual endeavors, just like with exercising or eating a nutritious diet as part of preventive care, the more positive outcomes you'll see.
What are examples of spiritual health?
Finding meaning and purpose in life may be a lifelong process that changes over time as a result of unique circumstances, personal experiences, and global events. A person's level of spiritual wellness, like the other dimensions of wellness, varies throughout their life. It's common to feel a range of emotions on the route to spiritual healing, both positive and negative (hope, forgiveness, acceptance, joy) (doubt, fear, disappointment, conflict).
Spiritual wellbeing has the power to make our decisions and choices easier, to center us during times of change, and to provide us with the resiliency to face hardship with grace and inner peace. Having a spiritual component in our lives may even assist us in healing whether we are afflicted with a physical or mental ailment.
Personal Reflection
Take a moment to measure your spiritual well-being by answering the following questions.
- Do I make an effort to broaden my understanding of various ethnic, racial, and religious groups?
Practice Spiritual Wellness
When it comes to spiritual wellness, it's vital to identify the strategy and approach that works best for you; unlike the other dimensions of wellness, there is no “one size fits all” solution.
- Volunteering in your community, spending time in nature, and appreciating music and the arts are all good things to do.
In future articles regarding spiritual wellness, we'll look at ways to figure out what your meaning or purpose is, as well as activities that can help you maintain or improve your spiritual wellness.