Lots of women say they smoke because of stress. Nicotine can have a short term relaxing effect on the brain. Ultimately, though, smoking cigarettes doesn’t get rid of your stress.

When you smoke, your heart rate speeds up and your blood pressure gets higher. Between cigarettes, your body begins to go into withdrawal from nicotine and you begin to feel a little anxious and irritable. Another smoke makes the feelings of stress disappear for a bit longer – but it's only a quick fix.

In the end, all the little withdrawals between smokes just add more stress to your day.

Managing stress

The best way to handle stress is to notice that you're feeling stressed as early as you can – and then do something about it. If you take time to think about it,
you can usually identify what makes you stressed, how you feel when you’re stressed and what you can do to relieve it.

We asked lots of young women for their tips on how they deal with stress:

• take time out – even 5 or 10 minutes of doing nothing or something else breaks up the day
• find a way to relax – there are lots of methods and techniques to relax, including deep breathing, relaxing your muscles, meditation, visualising, exercising and walking
• learn to say no – don’t take on too many commitments

Managing stress cont.

• balance your time and prioritise the things you need to do
• talk to someone you trust – maybe family or a friend – about things that are worrying you
• make sure you plan some things just for pleasure and fun, without pressures
• share the load at home or at work, so you’re not doing everything for everyone
• think about the way you think – do you have some thoughts or attitudes that create stress?
• be gentle with yourself – reward yourself and remind yourself that you are doing your best
• get a balance of different things and people in your life.