Here's something that might be interesting to you: you can consume nicotine without smoking cigarettes or even inhalation, and in that context, the harms of nicotine are negligible.
Or, alternatively, will pretending to have affection simply cement the feeling that affection is unrewarding? Perhaps there is a case to be made to lean into not having affection, to fall out of love and to have a break, and to let it arise again naturally instead of summoning it via artifice.
I was looking into infrared panels as well, but was slightly worried reading that they may cause your eyes to become cloudy. Is this something you heard of?
Check out this cool write-up: https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine