Anxiety is a timeworn mental health issue, but actual scientific research surrounding anxiety ages only for a few decades. There are still clouds and thunders regarding anxiety that are yet to be discovered. So, many people make make-believe stories about managing anxiety. Some prescribe vaping without nicotine for anxiety. But how sound is this claim?
Vaping without nicotine is a fruitless attempt to manage or cut back anxiety. Nicotine is a stimulant that negatively and transiently may relieve you from anxiety. But a nicotine-free vape has no chance of helping you in this situation.
There are many rumors and false advertisements circling around preaching nicotine-free vape to manage anxiety. Delving deep into the fact, we will unlock the truth about it in this article.
Does Vaping Without Nicotine Eliminate Anxiety?
Some self-claimed experts on the Internet claim vaping nicotine-free vape is a viable way to fight back anxiety issues. Here, let me clarify it once and for all. There is no record, research, or date to support this claim. Vaping without nicotine helps to cut off anxiety and is not backed by any scientific research or evidence.
If you feel relaxed or calm during an anxiety episode by hitting a nic-free vape, it is most likely a placebo effect. The chemicals in an e-juice may fluctuate your heart rate and make the anxiety much worse.
Correlation Between Vape And Anxiety
Many people use cigarettes, e-cigs, or vapes to subdue their anxiety episodes. It is not a myth that vaping has been proven helpful in dealing with anxiety. However, the underlying reason for such action is not vapor or smoke but rather the nicotine contained in the vape.
Nicotine is a stimulant. It hinges on a temporary sense of relaxation and relieves stress and anxiety. When you are dependent on vaping, separation from the act can lead to anxiety. This anxiety further leads to more vaping, and this vicious cycle continues. This flight-or-fight response may manage anxiety for a minimal period but withdraw once the nicotine diminishes.
However, this toxic relation between vape and anxiety is not primarily related to vape but rather the nicotine the e-liquid contains inside a vape. Many people claim that nicotine-free vapes give them the same relaxation as a nicotine-based vape, but this claim is highly questionable. Without nicotine, there is no stimulant to manage the anxiety transiently.
Should You Use Nicotine-Free Vape For Anxiety?
Depending on any kind of vape to fight back anxiety is a straight-cut bad idea. It makes the matter much worse and makes you more hooked up on the vape addiction. If you are wondering whether smoking a nicotine-free vape will help you dilute your anxiety even for a second, you are wrong.
Nicotine-free vaping will not relieve your anxiety for you. For worse, it may trigger the anxiety further when you become more dependent and addicted to it. So, no, you should not use nicotine-free vape to shoo away your anxiety because it simply doesn’t work.
When You Should Use Vaping Without Nicotine For Anxiety?
You might find the topic contradictory to my previous statement, where I mentioned that vaping without nicotine for anxiety doesn’t work. But here I am saying, when should you nicotine-free vape? Let me clarify.
Nicotine-free vape doesn’t, for a second, help to manage anxiety. However, nicotine does. Many people with anxiety use nicotine to make themselves feel good when they feel too anxious or stressed. This toxic and cyclic relationship with nicotine and anxiety makes them dependent on nicotine-based products.
If you are one of them, you might feel the urge to cut back on your habit of depending on nicotine when anxiety ushers on you. But you will soon realize the unbridled impulse and craving for nicotine when you start to feel anxious.
In such a situation, where anxiety creeps you into the nicotine but you want to cut it back, the nicotine-free vape can be your temporary friend. It can give you a sense of relief. A false placebo will lead you to calm your anxiety for a brief moment. This is not a permanent or wise resolution. But in a fight-or-flight situation, this may prove life-saving.
Pros and Cons of Vaping Without Nicotine
Pros Of Non-Nicotine Vape
Vaping, at the onset, is not a healthy lifestyle choice. But somehow, we get woven into this intricate addiction. Non-nicotine vapes can be a mediator to unleash ourselves from this habit. Here are some pros of vaping without nicotine.
- No nicotine-related health risk
- Addiction chance is almost zero
- Flavor options are numerous
- Less expensive
Cons Of Nicotine-Free Vape
Nicotine-free vaping is a better choice than nicotine-infused vapes. But that doesn’t really give them a high ground. Vape, whether it has nicotine or not, is still harmful to your health. I have listed some drawbacks of vaping without nicotine.
- Flavors can be harmful to the health
- Sore throat and coughing can follow
- Little research. Potential risks are unknown.
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Alternative Ways To Manage Anxiety
Anxiety is a severe mental health issue. Often, people overlook this concern and try to manage it in unhealthy ways, like vaping or depending on nicotine. But if you do not address this issue or subdue it with unhealthy choices, it may cost you in one way or another.
So here are some alternative and healthy ways to manage your stress
Meditation And Deep Breathing
You are probably scoffing right now. But these two practices can aid in lowering anxiety and fostering calmness. A medicated breathing pattern can emphasize awareness. It relaxes your body and lowers your cortisol level.
Exercise
Getting regular exercise can help reduce feelings of anxiety. Endorphins are naturally occurring substances in the brain that increase mood when you exercise. Exercises that can lower anxiety include yoga, dance, running, and walking. Remember that it is a long practice to manage anxiety. So, have patience.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of talk therapy that aims to recognize and alter unfavorable thinking patterns and anxiety-related behaviors. It can assist you in creating useful coping mechanisms and techniques to control your nervous thoughts and emotions.
Practice Mindfulness
By anchoring you in the present, mindfulness techniques like body scans, mindful breathing, and mindful eating can help you focus on the here and now and lower your anxiety. This practice gives you newer perspectives and unleashes new versions of you.
Final Words
Nicotine and anxiety play around with our main two core hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. This is why we find a sense of relaxation in nicotine when stressed. But vaping without nicotine for anxiety doesn’t even give you that sense. So, don’t believe in any gimmicks and rely on scientific evidence.