Many people reach for a vape when they’re stressed and feel calmer straight away. So why do so many vapers also say they feel more anxious than before they started?
Vaping can feel calming, but much of that calm is relief from nicotine withdrawal that builds up between puffs. Research links vaping with anxiety and depression in young people, and people who quit nicotine tend to feel better over time, not worse.
The nicotine loop
Nicotine wears off quickly. As levels drop, withdrawal starts: restlessness, irritability, anxiety, trouble concentrating. The next puff eases those feelings, so it seems as if the vape calmed you down.
Researchers have long argued that much of that calm is relief from the withdrawal nicotine itself creates. The NHS describes the same pattern in smokers: the craving makes them irritable and anxious, and lighting up relieves it for a while. A 2025 study that checked in with young vapers through the day found vaping eased their craving, anxiety and irritability, but only for a time. The result can be a loop that leaves you more on edge between puffs.
What the research says
- Vaping and low mood are linked, both ways. Young people who vape report more anxiety and depression, and people who are depressed are more likely to take up vaping. Researchers can’t yet say how much one causes the other.
- Quitting tends to help. Studies of people who stop smoking find less anxiety, depression and stress afterwards, on average, and a 2025 US study found that adults who quit vaping reported better mental health than those who kept going. These studies show a link, not proof.
- Nicotine is addictive, and the World Health Organization warns it can harm the developing teenage brain, potentially contributing to learning and anxiety problems.
Signs you’re dependent
- You vape within half an hour of waking.
- You feel irritable, anxious or restless when you can’t vape.
- You’re vaping more than you used to, or more than you mean to.
- You’ve tried to cut down and found it hard.
The first is a standard sign of dependence. In two large US trials of young people trying to quit, more than three in four reached for their vape within 30 minutes of waking.
Vaping in Nigeria
Vapes are easy to find. A late-2025 market survey by the health advocacy group CAPPA counted 522 different vape products in shops in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja, with advertised puff counts from 600 to 50,000. There’s no reliable national figure for how many young Nigerians vape. A 2021 survey of students in Lagos found about 8% had ever tried vaping and under 1% had vaped in the past month. In focus groups, young people in Lagos said they vaped mainly to reduce stress, for pleasure and to fit in.
Nigeria’s 2015 tobacco law is written around tobacco leaf and never mentions e-cigarettes. The World Health Organization’s 2023 profile of Nigeria records no national rules on e-cigarettes, including no minimum age of sale. A bill to amend the law, passed by the House of Representatives in May 2025, would create separate rules for vapes. Health groups oppose it, and as of September 2026 it wasn’t clear whether it had become law.
Take extra care with vapes from informal sellers. UN drug experts warn that some vaping products worldwide contain cannabis or other drugs, and in the United States, a serious outbreak of lung injuries in 2019 and 2020 was linked mostly to cannabis vapes from informal sources.
Cutting down or quitting
- Pick a reason and a date. Your mood, your money, your lungs, someone you love.
- Stop outright, or step down. The NHS suggests lowering the nicotine strength a little at a time and spacing out sessions. If you find yourself vaping more, it may be a sign you’ve dropped too fast.
- Make some places vape-free: your bedroom, the car, the office.
- Expect withdrawal. Irritability, anxiety and poor sleep are common at first. With cigarettes, they usually peak in the first week and ease over two to four weeks, and early studies of vaping suggest a similar or milder pattern.
- Ask a doctor or pharmacist about nicotine replacement, such as patches or gum. It’s legally sold in Nigerian pharmacies without a prescription, though what’s in stock varies.
- Get support. Nigeria has no national quit line, so tell people who’ll back you, and consider a therapist for the cravings and the stress underneath them.
Research on quitting vaping is still young. Nicotine replacement and cutting down gradually are widely advised but not yet proven for vaping, and a prescription medicine, varenicline, has shown early promise. A doctor can talk you through the options.
If you vape to manage anxiety
The anxiety deserves its own help. Slow breathing, movement, sleep and talking therapy can all help, without the withdrawal loop. See our guides to the physical symptoms of anxiety and breathing techniques, or read more about anxiety.
Suggested read: Social Anxiety at Parties and Owambes
If vaping is part of wider substance use, our pages on addiction and substance abuse in Nigeria explain the options. You can find a therapist who works with addiction, by video, voice or chat.
Frequently asked questions
Does vaping cause anxiety?
Vaping and anxiety are linked, but research hasn’t shown that vaping causes anxiety disorders. What’s clearer is that nicotine withdrawal between puffs brings on anxiety and irritability that the next puff relieves, which can keep you on edge.
Why does vaping make me feel calm?
Mostly because it relieves nicotine withdrawal that has built up since your last puff. The calm is real, but it’s short and it keeps the cycle going.
Is vaping legal in Nigeria?
Vapes are sold legally. The 2015 tobacco law never mentions e-cigarettes, and no national minimum age of sale is recorded for them.
How do I stop vaping?
Set a date, stop outright or step down the nicotine gradually, make some places vape-free, expect withdrawal for a few weeks, and get support from a doctor, pharmacist or therapist.
How long does nicotine withdrawal last?
With cigarettes, symptoms usually peak in the first week and ease over two to four weeks. Early studies suggest vaping withdrawal follows a similar or milder pattern.
This article is awaiting clinical review. It’s based on published research and health guidelines, and we’ll update it once a clinician has reviewed it.
