[wolftrap]

I puff on hand rolled cigs throughout the day. It calms me and gives me a mental break from whatever I'm doing (I don't smoke indoors. In the winter I bundle up.) I've read that a high percentage of people with BP smoke. Do you? Does it help? What is it's purpose?

[Fuzzybear]

I don't... I really need a distraction though from my grrrrrrrr. I can understand why some people with bipolar do smoke. Partly a distraction (and other reasons I can think of too)

[Marilyn2016]

Originally Posted by wolftrap

I puff on hand rolled cigs throughout the day. It calms me and gives me a mental break from whatever I'm doing (I don't smoke indoors. In the winter I bundle up.) I've read that a high percentage of people with BP smoke. Do you? Does it help? What is it's purpose?

I smoke, I wish I didn't, I can never find enough motivation to quit.
When the substances are gone, there isn't support, there are no more pills that help, when the stress is very high, I smoke. It keeps me from doing MUCH worse.

[The Black Dog]

I smoke cigars. It’s almost like meditation for me.

[Fuzzybear]

Maybe I'll start smoking.... my other ''coping'' strategies are ************

[Tucson]

Originally Posted by The Black Dog

I smoke cigars. It’s almost like meditation for me.

Same here.

[Moose72]

I have always thought that I'd be attracted to smoking. I've smoked a handful of times in my life but it never did anything for me. I can stand the smoke just fine if I'm the one smoking but with my friend Caleb I can't stand being around him when he smokes. Go figure.

[Soupe du jour]

I must say that I despise them and when I'm forced to breathe second hand smoke.

I tried cigarettes as a teen for maybe one week. Then I developed bronchitis and said to myself "Why in the hell would I continue this utter nonsense!" I never smoked another again.

The above doesn't mean that I never abused a substance, though. I did have quite a period of alcohol abuse. I even had to detox from it inpatient.

[Nammu]

Nope can’t stand the smell. But my daughter who also has bipolar does smoke. Says the same thing, that it calms her. We live in Minnesota and she doesn’t smoke indoors either.

[*Beth*]

No. I've tried a couple of times in my life, but I didn't like the way my throat burned.

[neverending]

I don't smoke either. However I have asthma and am allergic to cigarette smoke so I never started it.

[lightly toasted]

No, I don't smoke.

[HALLIEBETH87]

No but we raise tabacca

[Crazy Hitch]

Yes.

I’m currently Day 12 smoke free

[Jmayfair]

No smoking here!

[scatterbrained04]

Yes, I smoke. Way too much too. I need to quit for medical reasons, and I'm having a hard time with that.

[sarahsweets]

I forget the percentages but its pretty solid that a lot of people with bipolar have some sort of either addiction or vice due to self medicating over the untreated years or additional self medicating with meds. The percentages are on the higher end for people with adhd that are untreated. In fact people with adhd that are on meds are less likely to have an addiction due to proper treatment. Also the percenteges are on the higher end for people with ptsd or a trauma history as well. That said I am addicted to nictotine and an alcoholic in recovery. I thing the alcoholism was due to at first excess alcohol due to my absorption problems and me attempting to maintain that buzz. Then my hardwiring kicked in and I became an alcoholic in 6 months.

[MuddyBoots]

Nah, never smoked cigarettes (have smoked plenty of other stuff in the past)

[lightly toasted]

Originally Posted by lightly toasted

No, I don't smoke.

I should add that I did smoke cigarettes, quite a lot, between 1987 and 1992. That was when we could smoke everywhere, so it was easy to smoke as much as 50 cigarettes in a day.

As someone with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder, I think smoking helped me to have something to do with my hands. As a child I would fidget, but back then that's not acceptable as an adult - smoking was.

I think there was something in cigarettes that had antidepressant properties for me. My first major bipolar depressive crash came within a year of quitting smoking.

I'd never take up smoking again, it's been almost 30 years since I quit, and I do now have asthma. But despite how much the smell of second hand smoke grosses me out, I do miss smoking sometimes - it was so relaxing.

[wolftrap]

lightly toasted - I agree that smoking helps anxiety and is relaxing - just like those folks who have cited cigars, which I love.

[shadow2000]

I haven't smoked cigarettes in more than 13 years, with it being the case that smoking mostly doesn't do much for me overall. There were various periods in the past when I did smoke cigarettes, although when those periods occurred, I didn't smoke very many cigarettes or keep smoking for very long. Oddly enough, I think that I probably found myself to be more compelled to smoke cigarettes when I was taking Wellbutrin (which is used as a smoking-cessation medication) than I did at any other point in my past. I do think that smoking seemed to be somewhat relaxing for me at times in the past, but beyond that, I only liked doing it so much.

[Victoria'smom]

12-17 I smoked.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I've never smoked or even tried a single cigarette but I did once have a mania where I craved smoking. It took all my strength to not start smoking at work one day and I fought until I was on a new AP. My pdoc couldn't explain it and it's never happened again but my body clearly thought it needed something in those chemicals. It was bizarre.

[Werewoman]

I smoked for 40 years, but the last five I put down the cigs and started vaping. I finally stopped the weekend after Thanksgiving because I had just been released from IP treatment and hadn't vaped for a week and didn't miss it so I just didn't pick it back up when I got home. Once in a while I still crave smoking or vaping, but it's just not appealing to me any more.

[Que Sera Sera]

for all but 3 yrs period when i did quit ive been a smoker for 48 yrs..
more addicted at this point than most anything because i cant relate it to any other major reason. i dont have to rush & grab a cig right after a meal.. i dont grab one before my feet hit the ground getting out of bed.... i dont crave one to chill me out after a stress event..
but i can only go about 4 hrs without one before i really start jonesin bad .. cranky. bad attitude, cant focus, feel like an animal trapped in a cage sll edgy and tense and "jiggy".