As Wall Street Burns, Smokers Light Up

Smoking and stress go hand in hand, but the relationship isn’t as simple as it appears, according to Matthew Palmatier, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Kansas State University, who is conducting research funded by the National Institutes of Health on the “reinforcing” and mood-regulating effects of nicotine on rats.

Smokers exhibit elevated physical signs of stress, Palmatier says. Further, smoking elevates those signs of stress. Yet smokers report stress reduction from their habit. "So it makes these stressed people physiologically even more stressed, but what they report is that it reduces their stress," Palmatier says. One likely explanation is nicotine’s ability to stimulate the pleasure centers in the brain even as it stresses other systems.

A few blocks away, on Sixth Avenue, the 45-year-old De La Concha cigar shop remains one of the few businesses or offices in New York City where smoking is still legal. Tom Johansmeyer, a freelance PR rep for the shop, says De La Concha has become a socializing and networking spot for laid-off finance workers. Mind you, customers are switching from $10 or $15 cigars to the $8 house blend, the Grand Reserve.

One such customer is Tom Kochilas of Queens, N.Y., who was laid off in March from Merrill Lynch. He says he drops by the store daily for an $8 smoke.

Does the cigar help relieve the stress of being out of work? "I was actually more stressed when I was working," he says. "Now I’m not stressed at all." He puffs thoughtfully on his Grand Reserve. "Maybe that’s a bad thing."