When talking about bad habits, smoking is definitely on top of the list. Roughly seven million deaths are caused every year because of smoking. Every 9 out of 10 individuals is a smoker these days. Whether you are addicted to nicotine, weed, or marijuana, smoking has diverse effects on your body, causing serious medical conditions.
Sound distributing, right? It is because the problem is getting out of hand. Every 9 out of 10 smokers start smoking before the age of 18. This means the number of younger smokers is increasing day by day. The worst thing is that certain products are available today that help these young individuals fake their urine test. Check out the synthetix5 review, and you will be surprised.
But there is always a point in a smoker’s life when he wishes to quit. If you are one of them, then there are a few things that you need to know about the recovery process. It is not easy as multiple changes are going on in your body at the same time. Here is a list of things that happen to your brain when you quit smoking.
1- Regeneration of the Frontal Lobe
The frontal lobe of your brain is one of the major areas affected by drug use. Therefore, when you quit, it is immensely affected. Your frontal lobe is responsible for motor functions, short-term memory, behavior control, etc.
The heavy use of drugs can have a huge impact on your frontal lobe. The intoxicating effect of the drugs leads to memory loss and behavioral changes, making it hard for you to control yourself and think clearly.
But the good thing is that as soon as you quit smoking, your frontal lobe begins to heal. In the initial few days, you might experience the same symptoms as drug use. But over time, with cell regeneration and repairing tissue damage, things will get better. You will begin to make rational decisions once again and get complete control over your actions.
2- Dopamine Levels Begin to Normalize
Drug use can often lead to an imbalance in your hormones. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin are immensely affected by constant drug abuse. Drugs are packed with compounds that bind themselves to the dopamine receptors. Thus they render them inactive, making it impossible for you to feel anything other than pleasure.
Since at the same time, it also increases the dopamine levels in your brain. Thus you are more focused on activities that give you pleasure and happiness. Eventually, over time, it teaches your brain to repeat certain actions over and over again. This leads to uncontrolled behavior.
Therefore when you quit smoking, your dopamine levels begin to drop and normalize once again. Since your brain isn’t used to producing dopamine independently, in the first few days or weeks, you will experience low dopamine levels. That might cause sadness, but over time, levels will begin to balance out.
3- Motivation Returns
Drug abuse is popularly linked to mental health. Overusing drugs can render your thinking and feeling ability useless. You only think and feel what the drug makes you feel, which in most cases is low motivation levels.
The good thing is that since you have quit smoking; therefore, your brain will begin to go back to its old self with time. Initially, you might experience certain mood swings, anxiety, and depression. But it will all pass within the first few days. So you need to hang on to your decision during that hard time.
Once that time passes, your motivation will return. That is when you should start opting for healthy habits such as eating healthy, exercising daily, and socializing with good people to improve the quality of life that you destroyed before. Take it as a second chance to live and work hard to reach your goals.
4- Serotonin Production Increases
As mentioned earlier, long term drug abuse leads to an imbalance in hormones. Serotonin is one of the happy hormones released in your brain. It is actually the serotonin causing all the happiness when you feel good. Most drugs are designed to increase serotonin production. But with long term use, they start to decrease the production of serotonin in your brain.
The significant decrease in its numbers leads to several mental disorders naming stress, anxiety, and depression. Once you quit, your brain begins to reproduce serotonin and bring back the balance. The first few days are hard since a sudden surcharge or downfall can cause an imbalance in the mood, but things begin to normalize over time.
Takeaways
The decision to quit smoking is a great idea but not an easy one. On the plus side, you won’t have to use the Macujo method anymore. Once you decide to quit, you need to take things seriously. Individuals can often manage the road to recovery on their own, but not everyone. So if you need help, never hesitate to get it from a professional. They are there to help you. Avoid buying any more cigarettes, and start changing your life around to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.