this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
919 points (98.1% liked)
Greentext
6326 readers
1127 users here now
This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.
Be warned:
- Anon is often crazy.
- Anon is often depressed.
- Anon frequently shares thoughts that are immature, offensive, or incomprehensible.
If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
My question exactly.. I genuinely don't get it
Like many things, it's an irrational decision to start at some point, and then addiction keeps you doing it. I have tried out a few drugs in my teenage/young adult years, including some "hard" ones, which ended up genuinely being one-off curiosity things for me. But the one that I simply wasn't able to kick until last year was nicotine. It really is scarily addictive for something so widespread and legal. (Alcohol was also hard, but easier for me).
That, and the part about "no high" is just not really true, even after you develop a dependency/addiction (with rapidly diminishing returns, of course). But especially when first starting to vape/smoke, there are very much effects beyond placebo. It hooks into a lot of your neurochemistry, and like most things that do, you feel that. To the point that, e.g., many people that consume weed with tobacco, will think the initial wooziness they feel is already due to the weed, when really, it is a tobacco hit. The weed effects generally come afterwards.
Of course, the effect is not at all as intense as alcohol or other drugs, but there are effects. There are also, to my knowledge, some indications, that a lot of people with ADHD use it to self-medicate, since it seems to affect them differently, like other drugs do, too.
Sounds plausible; nicotine is a stimulant by means of triggering the release of adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin. That is pretty much what an ADHD brain lacks.
I've done coke, meth, acid, ecstasy, heavy amounts of opiates and I had been a full on alcoholic for years and I stopped all of those, quite easily as well. Cigarettes are another story tho.
One time I tried quitting cigarettes cold turkey and had a mild heart attack.
I've gotten close before but I just end up back here smoking.
Nicotine is by far the most addictive drug I've ever taken.
Definitely. I'm sure that the experience is also different for different people, but ~~overall~~ for me, it was really hard to get rid of. I was basically non-functioning for about 2 weeks, when I quit cold turkey last year, and I still get cravings every now and then, and I still don't feel "the same", just, in an overall psychological/bodily way that is hard to convey. Also, the (unwanted) weight gain after I quit was very much an unfortunate reality.
That is probably not the experience everyone has, different physiologies and psychological factors and all that, but I am certainly not the only person I anecdotally heard from, that had an intense struggle with the stuff. And it's also not the first time I heard from other people having gone through other addictions mentioning, that nicotine is the one they struggled with the most, or are still struggling with.
Bottom line: Don't start with nicotine, it really is not worth it. And if you are already caught up in it, and are one of the people that just can't quit - don't feel like you are weak or anything like that. Nicotine really is that addictive.
If you get drunk and throw a dip in your head goes spinning like crazy lol
Nicotine is a stimulant.
A drunk cigarette is quite nice ngl, usually makes the hangover worse though
the reason is in the post. it's highly addictive. quitting is basically impossible without professional assistance
Nicotine does have a high, that’s why. It’s subtle and a bit similar to caffeine