A good kind of quitting: Addressing nicotine use in the workplace

From the latest buzz on quiet quitting to feelings of disengagement, overwhelm, and burnout, stress weighs more on our workforce than ever. Beyond the usual challenges of work and personal lives, we also face social, geopolitical, and economic stressors. 

The American Institute of Stress's most recent survey found that 62% of respondents have such high levels of stress at work that they feel out of control, and the American Psychological Association's March poll revealed that 87% of adults say the last two years have been a constant stream of crises. Stress now impacts us so much that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening all adults 64 years or younger for anxiety.

Recognize the Link Between Stress and Tobacco

But isn't some stress good for us? True, a little stress can increase motivation and productivity, but the Yerkes-Dodson law clearly demonstrates the relationship between stress and productivity. Depending on the complexity and familiarity of the task, there is a point where stress stops increasing productivity, and anxiety starts impairing performance. What do many people do when they're stressed? They turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms like tobacco use. Tobacco use has negative repercussions for employers of tobacco users. Tobacco-induced absenteeism and lost productivity from smoke breaks have a direct and measurable impact on productivity.

Read more: To solve the mental health crisis, this platform is helping therapists get licensed virtually

In a recent poll, almost 60% of employees reported high-stress levels, and 20% said they missed six or more work days per year due to stress. And a recent report shares that some workers average eight minutes per day per smoke break, but for industries with high tobacco use, like construction, smoke breaks can total a whopping 73 minutes per day.

The American Institute of Stress shares that individual stress inhibits productivity, causing a shortfall that can stifle profits. The interconnection between stress and productivity impacts turnover, absenteeism, disengagement, loss of innovation, decreased resilience, and inability to focus on the job. These impacts lead to unexpected costs that often leave companies in difficult financial positions and cause uncertainty. Since uncertainty exacerbates stress, if left unaddressed, the post-COVID-19 climate may cause economic stagnation or downturns.

Offer Tobacco Cessation Solutions

Stressed employees will seek solutions for relief. Some solutions, like meditation, vacationing, connecting with people, getting out in nature, and eating healthier, can have a positive impact. Tobacco use, however, leads to even more stress.

Read more: Virtual care programs for addiction, popular during COVID, are here to stay

The common misconception is that nicotine calms people down and helps relieve stress. Nicotine helps users feel short-term relief but doesn't address the causes of underlying stress, and nicotine withdrawal can increase stress levels. Nicotine use is a vicious cycle:

• Nicotine causes the heart rate and blood pressure to spike. The heart has to work harder, making it more difficult to relax.

• Without nicotine, people experience withdrawal symptoms like irritability, poor concentration and cravings.

• When reintroduced, nicotine relieves those withdrawal symptoms and cravings and gives a quick hit of dopamine, a brain-reward chemical.

• The cycle begins again as the heart rate and blood pressure spike.

And the stigma of using tobacco is a stressor too. Even something as simple as whether to disclose tobacco use to an employer can be a significant source of stress for workers. Almost one-third of surveyed employees in a recent study on employee stress and well-being say their tobacco use contributes to stress at work. But only 17% of employees could confidently say that their employer understands and agrees with that view. This study demonstrates that employers are not fully aware of the link between stress and tobacco and that most incorrectly believe that their mental health services cover tobacco cessation.

Quitting is the best way to break this cycle of nicotine use and stress. Eliminating nicotine from the body impacts mood and improves depression. This is a type of quitting we must all get behind.

Support Employees With Stress-Reducing Resources

Both employers and employees report that work-related pressure significantly contributes to stress. Heavy workload, organizational change and turnover, and tight deadlines were all leading factors. But tobacco use isn't only a response to those concerns — it's also a source of stress. 

Read more: Making your workplace drug-free and recovery friendly can help support people with addictions

Many of the stressors employees face are outside of their control. Finding an effective way to quit using tobacco is within reach, and the workplace is a great place to start. Benefits managers who connect quitting tobacco and reducing stress have a promising opportunity to make a difference for their employees, ultimately minimizing stress for the entire team. 

Three takeaways that will help in reducing employee stress

1. Acknowledge the relationship between tobacco use and stress.
When corporate leadership talks openly about tobacco use in internal communications and recognizes that high-level employees also use tobacco, this acts as a crucial first step to destigmatizing employees who use tobacco. When employees understand that their leadership team acknowledges that tobacco-using employees face a variety of unique stressors and triggers related to the stigma surrounding their habit and the habit itself, employee perceptions toward stress in the workplace start to change.

2. Make sure your benefits program offers an effective cessation solution.
Employers are not fully aware of the link between stress and tobacco, incorrectly believing that the benefits offered through mental health services effectively cover tobacco cessation. Workers disagree. Many are motivated to quit, but 41% of employees say there are no programs to help them stop using tobacco or such programs are hard to access.

Executives and managers are more likely to characterize tobacco cessation as part of broader mental health benefits. Often general benefits programs lack specific, tobacco-focused tools and resources. Consider offering a tobacco cessation solution that provides employees with tobacco-focused tools and resources.

Read more: An inside view into how digital clinics for addiction work

Choose solutions with proven success and features to encourage participation and success. After all, solutions work better when they provide support through expert one-on-one coaching, an on-the-go mobile app, and biofeedback options like a mobile Breath Sensor that measures carbon monoxide levels in exhaled breath. 

It's also important to understand that tobacco use includes vaping and all other forms (EX: cigars, hookah, chew, dip, nicotine pouches, etc.), not just cigarette smoking. Effective solutions offer plenty of access to helpful self-paced and customized tools to successfully support the journey of quitting. 

3. Communicate benefits offerings to employees. 
Ensure your team is aware and can easily access the programs you offer. Remind them periodically since attitudes and motivations change. Effectively communicating tobacco cessation offerings and making them accessible to all employees and their dependents demonstrates your support and helps lower barriers to reducing and quitting tobacco. 

When your employees know leadership cares about them and their quit journey by offering tangible solutions to help, it positively impacts your business and your employees' stress levels. Encouraging employee success is a win-win for the entire organization that you can't afford to miss.