Cravings - why is it that...?

Why is it that when smokers start freaking out they grab a cigarette to calm down? Shouldn't the stimulation from the nicotine just wind them up more?

I'm curious, because sometimes that's how I feel caffeine affects me - the more panicky and stressed out I am the more I want to grab a cup.

If you're not addicted to nicotine, and you smoke it, you will feel the stimulant effects as an aberration to your normal state. However, when you're addicted to nicotine, the heightened state is your "norm". Anything outside of that is the physically uncomfortable aberration. The return to "norm" that a cigarette produces is what's calming. Your body doesn't care if it's being brought up or down to "norm".

There's a similar phenomenon with alcoholism. Buzzed becomes the "norm". And you feel raw and uncomfortable without it. Lots of alcoholics don't drink to feel drunk. They do it to feel normal, so they can go about their day...or operate on you.

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i dont know why... but i do. i dont smoke frequently, but if i'm very nervous or stressed out at work or stressed out about finances or whatever, ill smoke a pack quickly. it calms me