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Withdrawals of any kind can be very hard on your mental health, especially if it’s a substance you’ve been using regularly for a long time. Your brain is used to being given the dopamine and serotonin that nicotine brings it at regular intervals, and having that taken away can cause psychological side effects that can be difficult to deal with. Nicotine withdrawal can produce symptoms like nicotine withdrawal depression and nicotine withdrawal anxiety, and if you’re already prone to these conditions, they can sometimes make them temporarily worse.
Fortunately, modern science and medicine have progressed enough to create solutions that can alleviate nicotine withdrawal depression and other symptoms which can make your withdrawals easier, no matter whether you’re going through withdrawals for the first and only time, or you’re simply halting your nicotine consumption for a short period- perhaps to have surgery or test for a job application.
There are a few things you can do to make your nicotine withdrawals psychologically easier. Preparing yourself for what you can expect, finding a good nicotine detox, and taking care of your mental health will be excellent steps to take to make your nicotine withdrawal depression, anxiety, and other symptoms as easy and pain-free as possible.
Prepare Yourself With Knowledge
According to the National Institute of Health, there are 7 primary symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawals: depression, anxiety, irritability, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, restlessness, and increased appetite. This can seem like a lot to possibly expect at first, but knowledge is power. It’s better to know that there’s something causing your depression or irritability rather than thinking you are just sad and lashing out for no reason.
A great way to prepare yourself for this is to sit down with those close to you and who you live with to discuss the coming days and make sure everyone is on the same page. Giving the people in your life an opportunity to give you grace and support while you’re possibly experiencing nicotine withdrawal depression or nicotine withdrawal anxiety will make everyone’s life a little easier.
In preparation, stock your fridge with your favorite foods and drinks to replace some of the dopamine you’ll be missing for the next few days, and prepare to be gentle and forgiving with yourself.
Use a Nicotine Detox to Your Advantage
Typically, we associate the word “detox” with a woman drinking a glass of lemon water in the morning or refusing to ingest anything except green organic smoothies for weeks. Those sorts of detoxes don’t actually do any detoxing at all, because our livers are “detoxing” us all the time with no extra effort needed. For outside influences like nicotine or alcohol that our body doesn’t produce, detoxing is a real thing. The chemical compounds in nicotine aren’t naturally produced by the body, so when you stop using it, the body tries to find a way to replace it. These are what we know as withdrawals.
Using a detox product like NicoClean can help your body literally flush the excess nicotine out of your body, while helping to alleviate annoying and stressful symptoms of nicotine withdrawals like depression. The all-natural product is made and designed by pharmacists in an FDA-approved facility, and is proven to flush nicotine out of your system in a quarter of the time it would normally take. NicoClean uses a total of five ingredients in a vegan gelatin capsule to detox your body of nicotine in a maximum of three days- for regular nicotine users who don’t use a detox, nicotine can remain in the system for up to 20 days!
St. John’s Wort, one of the ingredients in the detox, is instrumental in promoting better mental health during your detox and will help with nicotine-withdrawal-induced depression and anxiety. The other four ingredients- all naturally occurring herbs and vitamins- are designed to pass the nicotine out through your urine at twice the rate of other products on the market.
Take Care of Your Mind
Being deliberate and mindful with yourself during your detox will make it seem easier and shorter. While you may have cravings due to the withdrawals as well as other symptoms like nicotine withdrawal depression, taking care of your mind and creating boundaries and goals will be invaluable.
Create a schedule for yourself for your detox. Write out what you will do each day and at what time and refer to it often. Make a checklist if you enjoy those and check off each item as you accomplish it. Give yourself time every day to do something that truly brings you joy, even if it’s as simple as sitting on your porch or watching an episode of your favorite TV show.
Try to get some aerobic exercise or participate in some meditation. Quieting your mind for as little as ten minutes can have a huge positive effect on how your brain functions for the rest of the day. Stay as hydrated as you can, and eat lots of protein and veggies to help ward off cravings.
If you are taking any medications for mental or physical health conditions, check with your doctor before beginning your detox to make sure it is safe to do so.
Trust the Process
Voluntarily going through withdrawals and knowing the risks of the psychological effects it can have on you – nicotine withdrawal depression, insomnia, restlessness, and all the others – is a brave thing to undertake. Whether you’re going through withdrawals and detoxing with the goal of never ingesting nicotine again or you’re flushing nicotine out so that you can undergo surgery or testing for your insurance company, know that you will be able to get through it if you set your mind to it.
Allow yourself to receive support (sometimes this is the hardest part!), and be mindful and meticulous in your plans for your withdrawal period.