Smoking

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Sorry if this has been talked to death already.

I bought a pack of cigarettes. I have been an on and off smoker my whole life and recently I've begun to wonder how it effects me, and if it has a similar effect on others. I mostly wonder about productivity. When I'm not smoking I'm not productive. But the odd thing is I don't understand why. I still feel the same. At the core i'd still rather lay around and get high and watch Futurama and Top Gear all day, but for some reason I don't.

Career wise, the times are incomparable. My non smoking time has almost always left me sleeping on a friends couch, while my smoking time has left me supporting myself and building a pretty awesome portfolio.

When I really think about how it effects me mentally, I being to wonder if it is a confidence thing.
If I'm doing something I think is a stupid task, it is almost like it shuts up the part of my mind that says "This is a really dumb task. This is worthless and you should feel worthless for doing it."
To me though, the best part is if I'm doing something I think is worth while. I am calm and focused on each task. My mind is encouraging regardless of my surroundings and quite honestly it shows through my work. There is no doubt or second guessing or endless distractions. It's almost zen-like. I am focused, I am confident I am the best at what I do, and I don't care how hard the task or how many people I have to work with/around.

I tried to research the positive effects of cigarettes, and I found out that they may actually be an anti-depressant. I know that depression is something that affects aspies, and has certainly affected me.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with cigarettes? My sister tells me her husband is like this.

There is huge variation in the neurotransmitter profiles people have, and some people seem to be unlucky enough to be born with fewer dopamine receptors than others and lower levels of the dopamine neurotransmitter. They are far more likely to struggle with smoking addiction because nicotine is one substance that can temporarily boost dopamine, though as with all addictive substances, habituation occurs and you needs more and more to sustain the boost effect. When people reach their habituation limit, that seems to be when depression kicks in - the substance has stopped working - and that's a significant loss that seems to trigger depression both biochemically and emotionally.

I have known very heavily addicted smokers who never thought they would stop finding they could use amino acids like 5HTP and DLPA to get the same dopamine boost, making smoking unnecessary. It was reasonably helpful for me to stop that way, however my main trigger to smoking again was anxiety - once I controlled that by boosting the levels GABA in my brain, neither the anxiety nor the need to smoke were much of a problem after that.

It took some fairly intense research and monitoring to solve these issues for me, though there is a lot of information out there, which enabled me to tailor the solutions to my own individual needs. I think that's the key really, one size doesn't fit everyone..

Smoking = reduced stress and anxiety = less depression = more productivity.
I've given up recently. I've been less productive, but I'd be even less productive if I was dead from lung cancer.

I loved smoking. Smoked for almost 30 years, then quit about 15 years ago. Still miss it when I smell someone else smoking. I wasn't overly concerned about the health issues. I quit because it was getting too expensive. So now I sit here with worse depression and anxiety secure in the knowledge that I may live longer...not sure that's a great trade-off?

People can smoke their entire lives and never get cancer, and likewise, people who've never smoked at all can get lung cancer. The oldest recorded living person (Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122) smoked from age 21 to 117.

Of course I'm not saying cigarettes are healthy, but they're never a definitive cause of cancer.

My best guess is that it's because nicotine is a stimulant. Some choose caffeine, others take ADHD meds (ephedra based stimulants), others yet might even do cocaine. But anyways, nicotine is a stimulant and it's certainly going to get certain areas of your brain firing that might not have fired so well in a sober state.

Also, I've read that smoking alters your intestinal flora. It's possible that some of the positive effects are due to intestinal flora changes and how they affect brain functions.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I'm not an aspie, but I am a depressive and believe (but have never been dx'd) I am an inattentive type ADD - anyhow...

YES.

But I have mixed experiences because when I smoke I tend to exercise less and excercise helps me control my depression and helps me keep focused. And when I quit smoking I tend to exercise more to manage the anxiety. It's like I'm addicted to exercise or smoking. One is easier. The other is better for me. Currently I'm smoking

If you are addicted to nicotine try changing to a vaper. This allows you to get in nicotine while eliminating pretty much all the negative health effects. Tobacco contains some of the worst possible stuff you can put into your body ( including radioactive heavy metals ).