If your New Year’s Resolution was to butt out in 2013, a new study finds smoking does not actually relieve stress, quitting does.

British researchers measured anxiety levels in almost 500 smokers before and after they tried to give up smoking, using nicotine patches.

Six months later, 15-percent of the volunteers had kicked the habit and said they felt much less anxious than they had when they were smoking. However, those who tried to quit but failed, were more stressed out than ever before.

The study was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.