Overcoming Addiction
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Why do people smoke in the first place and when does it become an addiction?

There have been studies that the reason for smoking is purely psychological in nature. Blame it on movies, on soap operas and on commercials on televisions – they try to glamorize smoking and make everyone feel at ease when you smoke. But once you try it, there are people who can never stop, and this becomes an addiction, but the addiction to smoking nicotine can be fully stopped once you get to the psychological root of the problem.

You first need to get to the core of the problem. Here are some reasons why people are into nicotine.

• You want to feel glamorous and sophisticated in front of your friends.

• You don’t want to feel left out by your friends who are all smoking.

• You want to feel independent.

• Your favorite actor or actress on television is smoking, so you want to be like them.

• You want to rebel against authority.

• You want to relax and take the stresses out of everyday life.

• You want to grow up, just a little too fast.

• You want to celebrate your anniversary or something grandiose that happened.

As you look at the reasons above, there is actually a pattern that evolves why you smoke – you are influenced by your peers, by your idols or by television commercials, or televisions shows. But unfortunately, smoking is a form of addiction, and once you begin, it is extremely difficult to stop.

Putting out the Cigarettes for Good

Just like drugs, once you start smoking, it’s difficult to stop but it is possible to quit smoking. You just need a little bit of everything – a little bit of determination, guts and willpower to finally end the addiction you have been desperately wanting to end for the longest time.

There are several ways to quit smoking. One is to discover why you smoke in the first place and then try to deal with it by developing some kind of method or technique to stop smoking. If you can’t deal with it, get your friends to help you. The second would be to conquer your physical addiction to nicotine.

Here are a couple of suggestions that might get you off the ground and free you of your nicotine symptoms:

• Determine what is really your motivation for quitting. Find out what your real reason is to want to quit smoking. Is it because you want to be freed from nicotine addiction? Whatever it is, try to assess yourself and find out why you want to quit smoking. In fact, quitting smoking helps you improve your life and gives you the greatest fulfillment – a sense of well-being for you and for your family. Take control of your life and don’t let anyone or anything influence you in smoking.

Below are some motivations for quitting smoking.

• Health Issues. Studies have proven again and again that smoking is bad for your health. It makes you sick with all kinds of diseases or illnesses which you have never heard of, but the most common one is cancer. Aside from these diseases, smoking also causes you to lose your sense of smell, gives you bad breath, and makes you lose your appetite, hence, lose weight. It also diminishes your energy.

• Cosmetic Aspects. Cigarettes leave a very foul odor on the user and nicotine stains are all over their fingers. Aside from that, their teeth are discolored (they sometimes turn bright yellow – good for your shirt but not for you teeth), and they make you age faster.

• Relations with Others. There have been studies that second-hand smoking (breathing smoke exhaled by someone else who is smoking) is quite dangerous. Realizing that you are not only putting your own health in danger by smoking, but that of your loved ones can be a powerful motivation to help you to stop.

• Finances. Because of smoking, you lose not only your priorities in life but your finances as well. You spend too much on cigarettes rather than those things that really matter.

• Determine the Psychological Issues. Another aid to quitting smoking is to try to determine the moments when you are most tempted to smoke. Is it when you want to relax, or when you are with a group of people who smoke? Try to focus on these moments and find something else to do at those times instead of smoking. You can also find ways to replace smoking with another form of activity, such as doing a particular hobby, talk to your loved ones or just go out and do something new. As much as possible, try to avoid mingling with people who are smoking and with these people, avoid situations which make you want to smoke. Just remind yourself of the negative factors of smoking. Drink lots of water so that you will stay hydrated. Try to keep busy so that you can eventually forget about smoking. Exercise, and take a deep breath when you feel like smoking. Ask your friends and family to help you quit smoking – create a support group through them.

• Determine the Physical Addiction. Just like drugs, smoking is very addictive and the smoker might tend to have withdrawal symptoms whenever he suddenly stops smoking. He might feel irritable, uncomfortable, uneasy, suffers from headaches, chills, have trouble sleeping or break out in a nervous sweat. But with different people come different techniques and methods of quitting. It depends on the person. Here are additional techniques to stop smoking:

  • Quitting “suddenly”. There was a reality show on television a couple of months ago called “Cold Turkey”. The objective of the show was how to teach smokers to quit smoking through various challenges and means. Cold turkey means that you suddenly stop smoking altogether and without the least bit of preparation. However, the disclaimer: cold turkey is more effective for people who are not heavy smokers. When you go on a vacation or start a new hobby, make a resolution to yourself to stop smoking and this will be a lot easier for you since you are in a new environment and a new setting.

  • Gradually. Like any other kind of addiction, gradual withdrawal is the best response for some individuals. It starts slowly – from several cigarettes down to just one and then down to nothing at all. Of course, you also need to take note of the time frame – when you expect to be down to two cigarettes a day – like a week or three days. During all of this time that you are gradually reducing your intake, just make sure that you are busy with something and involved in some hobbies or with your work. There are other and better things to do than smoking, such as spending time with your family or watching a movie!

  • Patches and Gums. There are those people who use nicotine patches and substitute cigarettes with gums. Nicotine patches take a few days before they take effect but with gum, it takes the sensation away almost immediately. These products actually help you in refusing the smell of cigarettes but it doesn’t actually cure the addiction. They can help you treat the problem in two steps – first the habits associated with using cigarettes, and then the nicotine dependency, but since the nicotine dependency is the destructive part, and the patches and gums contain nicotine, you are not cured of your problem until you stop them too.