Go look up 5-htp, dopeamine, serotonin from biopsychiatry.org .. Something in tobacco (have they actually identified it as nicotine?) reduces MAO-B, by something like an average of %40. This is also considered to be why smokers have a slightly lower rate of Parkinson's than non-smoking. Anecdotal evidence: I've been smoking a pack a day since 15, and recently, I've decided to start taking 150mg of 5-htp three times a day. BOY do I feel better. Less anxious and nervous, calmer around large crowds, etc. Now, does this effect relate to the MAO-B inhibition, or is it a side effect of something else entirely?

This is the top stocking truth. I smoked two packs a day from the time I was 14 to the time I was 22, and never once had a panic attack in my life until about two months after I quit -- probably as a result of detoxification. Thankfully, I haven't suffered anything quite as bad after my neurochemistry adjusted to no longer being a nicotine addict, but I can't say I'm at all surprised. Cory, you smoke those gawdawful Marlboro Lites, don't you? Bleh.

I've seen the correlation between smoking and mental illness before, but always described the other way round: panic disorders are self-medicated by smoking or other calming activities. People with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do the same thing, apparently-- and it's been shown that nicotine actually does alleviate some of the symptoms of those disorders. Or so I read somewhere...

Hmm, I'm not sure, it could be related to breathing techniques, but cripes, i'm a unix junkie, not a athlete, who'd have guessed? I also quit because of the cost too...

As long as we're getting anecdotal: I got panic attacks for a while in my early 20's, after a few years of smoking heavily.

My experience was that a panic attack feels like a really bad nic fit, except that a cigarette doesn't fix it.

Pure speculation, but I wonder whether learning that mechanism of addiction/craving/discomfort may has as much to do with anxiety attacks as the suggested explanation of less effective breathing.

concerns about methodology and causation vs correlation aside, is it really any surprise that artificially juicing one of your brains major receptor systems leads to adverse psychological effects? people habitually on benzodiazepines for long periods tend (in my experience) to go crazy, and amphetamines can induce temporary psychotic states. how is nicotine any different?

Damn, it's true. I started smoking at 12 (picked up to half a pack a day by the time i was 16..) and literally went nuts to the point where my doc wanted to put me on anxiety meds. I quit smoking 4 months ago...22 now :). My Anxiety is better..I dunno, but I can belive it!

The punitive tax increases on cigarettes will only increase smokers' anxiety levels. Seven dollars a pack? Who wouldn't have a panic attack?

Oh- Here's a Q&A with the author of the study, discussing whether cause can be inferred:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s333698.htm

Edited by author 04-12-2002 02:13 AM
According to the study, kids who actually have these disorders to start with aren't any more likely to start smoking. So it's not as simple as the conditions leading people to smoke. That doens't prove causation or anything, of course.

http://www.medserv.dk/health/2000/11/09/story04.htm sheds some light,
as does http://fusion.mssm.edu/story/content.cfm?storynum=160

Of course, what _really_ makes you crazy is quitting...

I don't see why the fact that these kids smoked cigarettes before they were diagnosed with panic disorders suddenly proves that the cigarettes caused those disorders. It's just as likely that people who have a natural propensity toward panic disorders would have a natural propensity toward cigarettes.

This article's pretty short on details. I'd like to know how this research was carried out. The article implies that the research found that smoking caused the the condition, rather than resulting from it. How exactly did they test for this?

heh. whew! i guess i'm safe because i didn't start smoking until i was seventeen.

Is that when they cannot find their cigarettes or in general?