RISE Blog | Stress & Vaping

By: Mia Chu, Peer Educator
December 9th, 2022

This time of year can be incredibly busy! With finals this week and the holiday season soon approaching, many college students may find themselves feeling more stressed than usual. To help manage their stress, students might engage in healthy behaviors such as eating homemade nutritious foods, sleeping, exercising, and hanging out with friends. However, they might also engage in more risky substance use behaviors, including drinking excess amounts of alcohol, vaping, and using other types of drugs. While these substances might help an individual cope with their stress in the short term, in the long term they can cause issues in a variety of areas in a person's life including their physical, mental, financial, and sexual health. In this blog, the risks of vaping as well as alternative stress management techniques will be discussed.

How Vaping Affects Different Aspects of Health

Physical: The main chemical in most vaping products is nicotine, which is an incredibly addictive substance. The human brain does not stop developing until the age of 25, so people under the age of 25 are more likely to develop addictions (yalemedicine.org). Aerosol along with unknown chemicals are ingredients in vaping products, which can put a person more at risk for other health issues long-term.  Vitamin E acetate, a chemical present in some e-cigarettes, has also been known to cause lung injuries.  

Mental: Although the mental health effects of vaping have currently not been widely studied, it's theorized that vaping could have similar mental health effects to those of traditional cigarettes in that people may be vaping to self-medicate for mental health disorders. Many disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, and negatively perceived mental health are all associated with e-cigarette use (ncbi.nih.gov).  

Financial: The average cost of a single JUUL is $20 and the average cost for refillable e-cigarettes is $30. Over the course of a year, an average user spends around $1,000 on vaping products. (www.aces.edu) This financial commitment can be a significant burden.

Sexual: Nicotine and acetate are both chemicals commonly found in vaping products that can lead to erectile dysfunction (Sheffield Health). 

Alternative Stress Management Techniques

Meditation: Many people vape to relax; however, meditation can also be used to help a person relax after a busy day. The Tech rec center offers yoga classes with guided mediations multiple times throughout the week and there are also many meditation videos available online. Check out our “Stress Management & Meditation” blog for a step-by-step guide! (Meditation Blog)

Exercise: Moving your body has many benefits and can be especially beneficial for stress management. Most forms of exercise, especially cardio, have cardiovascular benefits that vaping lacks. The Tech rec center offers a large variety of sports and workout equipment as well as fitness classes. It can be a great place to go if you are new to working out regularly. If you are more interested in getting involved with group sports or other fitness activities, Urbanovsky park could also be a great place to get moving! It has volleyball nets, soccer, flag football fields, and frisbee golf. Remember: exercise is not just limited to sports and intense workouts. Rollerblading, dancing, long-distance walking, and any other physical activity that significantly increase heart rate also count. 

Eating Nutritious Food: Although eating healthfully can be difficult as a college student, it is important and can also help reduce stress. Eating a balanced diet with adequate amounts of vegetables, protein, fruits, and carbohydrates can be as beneficial to your physical health as your mental health. Many e-cigarettes tend to be fruit flavored and the nicotine in them can reduce appetite. One alternative to try could be to replace vaping with eating a piece of fruit; this could help relieve those flavor cravings. The nutritionists at Tech can help with any nutrition advice and dietary issues you have. Their information is available through the Tech dining website: Meet Our Staff! | Smart Choices | Hospitality Services | TTU 

Connecting with People: Connecting with friends, family, significant others, and the other people in your life you are close with is another stress management technique that is an alternative to vaping. Ideally, the people who you are closest to you deeply care about your mental wellbeing and want to see you thrive, so interacting with them can help you feel less stressed. Although people tend to vape in groups as a social activity, there are plenty of other activities you can do with others that do not involve substance use, including (but not limited to) all the other activities listed above.  

If you feel as though you may be struggling with vaping, that's okay because RISE can help. Reach out to us by emailing us at Rise@ttu.edu and we can connect you with our Raider Restart program for free. Our Raider Restart program is a free program where you can set your own goals and learn to use some lower risk coping mechanisms to reduce your use! 

 

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