Even though COVID-19 attacks the lungs, boredom, anxiety, and stress have caused more Americans to light up despite the logical dangers. While the pandemic has triggered other addictive behaviors such as binge eating and drinking alcohol, the choice to smoke seems counterintuitive.

According to Vox, the World Health Organization found a “statistically significant association between smoking status and endpoints of admission to intensive care units, ventilator use, or death.” Smoking causes more deaths than COVID-19, killing more than 480,000 Americans every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Americans are smoking more during the pandemic because they also have more discretionary spending, since travel and entertainment options have been drastically restricted. The use of both traditional cigarettes and vaping devices have increased. While the use of tobacco and vaping products has been declining steadily by 4% to 6% annually in the past, experts project this year’s decline will be half that figure.

Psychology Today says that smoking is a form of self-soothing, like the infant sucking its thumb. Neurological research bears out the notion that taking that first drag on a cigarette decreases anxiety. But experts say that it is important to develop less harmful behaviors to deal with pandemic stress. Learning a new craft or hobby that keeps your hands occupied and your mind focused can help. “Or pick up an apple — it takes time and patience to polish it off,” according to Psychology Today.

“By developing positive self-soothing habits to replace the ones that are less than ideal, you are not only getting rid of one bad habit, you are actually increasing your resiliency and your levels of stress and anxiety will probably decrease in ways that will surprise you,” said Suzanne Degges-White, Ph.D., a counselor at Northern Illinois University.