Quick answer
Yes — despite the common belief that smoking or vaping calms nerves, nicotine is a stimulant that increases anxiety over time. The 'calming' effect is mostly relief from withdrawal, and the cycle of nicotine and withdrawal actually raises baseline anxiety. Quitting typically reduces anxiety in the long run.
The myth of the calming cigarette
Many people believe smoking or vaping relieves anxiety and stress — but this is largely a misunderstanding of what's actually happening. Nicotine is a stimulant, which raises heart rate and arousal — the opposite of calming. The 'relief' smokers feel isn't nicotine reducing their baseline anxiety; it's nicotine temporarily relieving the withdrawal symptoms (including anxiety and irritability) that build up between cigarettes. In other words, nicotine creates the very anxiety it then briefly relieves. So the calming effect is real but illusory — it's just escaping a withdrawal state that the nicotine itself caused.
The cycle that raises anxiety
This sets up a cycle that increases anxiety overall. As nicotine leaves your system between cigarettes or vapes, withdrawal builds — bringing anxiety, irritability, restlessness, and craving — which the next dose relieves, reinforcing the belief that nicotine calms you. But across the day, you're repeatedly cycling through withdrawal-induced anxiety, keeping your baseline anxiety elevated. Regular nicotine use is associated with higher, not lower, anxiety levels. So rather than being a treatment for anxiety, nicotine is often a hidden contributor to it — a dependency that manufactures the distress it appears to soothe.
What quitting does
The encouraging news: while quitting nicotine causes a temporary spike in anxiety during withdrawal (which understandably makes people think they need it), research consistently shows that anxiety levels are lower after successfully quitting than during smoking/vaping. Once past the withdrawal period (typically a few weeks), most people find their anxiety improves, not worsens, having escaped the nicotine-withdrawal cycle. So if you smoke or vape and have anxiety, quitting is likely to help your anxiety in the long run, despite the short-term withdrawal hurdle. Support is available to manage the quitting process (nicotine replacement, medications, programs), and getting through the temporary withdrawal is well worth the lasting reduction in anxiety.
Why causes matter — and their limits
Understanding what feeds your anxiety helps you make smart changes, but you don't need to find 'the' cause to recover. Modern treatment works on the maintaining loop — how anxiety sustains itself today — which is why therapy helps even when the original trigger is unclear. A professional can help with both.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified health professional about your situation. If you are in crisis, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line immediately.