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Why is it hard to QUIT SMOKING?
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E-mailMade Popular May 29 2008
It is always easy to start any addiction but difficult to quit. A smoker may not have any particular reason to have begun smoking, but there is a very significant rationale to quit. It is the health, the very life of the smoker which is at stake.
The body and mind of a smoker gets so much accustomed and prone to nicotine that it becomes very difficult for a smoker to quit. Nicotine is a very addictive drug and it makes the smoker a slave to the addiction. Attempts at quitting may result in relapses and the reinforcing the addiction.
There are many reasons which make frustrate a smoker’s attempts at kicking the habit.
Some of them are
Lack of Will Power
Any kind of achievement requires a purpose, drive and strong motivation. Once we make up our minds to quit, then nothing should hold us back.
Lack of Friend And Family Support
The people around us can be a source of constant motivation and encourage the smoker to reform this deadly habit. They can keep the smoker busy in some other activity of interest.
Choice of the Correct Aid
It is difficult for a smoker to quit smoking cold turkey. An aid or a nicotine replacement therapy is important to periodically provide the smoker with a low dosage of nicotine and enable him to gradually kick the habit.
LACK OF ATMOSPHERE
while the smoker is trying to quit smoking, it is important to stay away from those places and people who will tempt the smoker into a relapse. The smoker should take up an activity or hobby, which will help divert attention from smoking.
Any single one of the above reasons or a combination would make it difficult for a smoker to quit.
It has become easier now days to quit smoking due to the variety of aids available in the market. A smoker can consult a doctor , take recommendations and formulate a plan to quit or reduce smoking.
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Parul G
May 29 2008
Delhi,
India
Let’s hope all the things said in the article will help many of us the smokers in quitting smoking. I am happy that i do not smoke. However I will try to give the above knowledge some of thto the people whom i know and are addicted to smoking.
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Arun Kumar
Jun 10 2008
shimla,
India
thanks...........it’s all i mean..
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All the tips mentioned above are again easier said than done. A smoker has a psychology of his own, something non-smokers like us do not understand. However, people have quit smoking and I believe those who really wish to give up the habit can do so without medical help.
its all in the mind....two months back i used to smoke 6 to 8 ciggs a day and now i smoke just 1 or 2 per day....if one has the will power then they can control the number of ciggs and quit smoking at the same time....
@Sauni
That’s a great start. I guess if one tries harder and motivates himself/herself further, the habit is not hard to kill. Like u said, it’s all in the mind.
That’s a great start. I guess if one tries harder and motivates himself/herself further, the habit is not hard to kill. Like u said, it’s all in the mind.
@ Alpheus........ I am a regular smoker, and I would like to acquaint you with the psychology of millions like me. Your body keeps on signaling the danger but its mind that doesn’t give a damn to these warning signs. If your minds says its time to call it a day, you can quit this habit. Nevertheless, these tips (may be) are helpful; again, its your mind that overpowers the brain and your commitment. I don’t say its a generalization. If you hold it as a personal viewpoint, I admit that even.
@ Desh
As a non-smoker, I’m probably not aware of how your body reacts to the mind. Does the signalling take place at a sub-conscious level? If it isn’t the case, shouldnt it be possible for you to quit smoking? For instance, when your body is hungry, you can always let the mind gain control. We call that ’fasting’. So, it finally boils down to how your mind handles the feeling right?
As a non-smoker, I’m probably not aware of how your body reacts to the mind. Does the signalling take place at a sub-conscious level? If it isn’t the case, shouldnt it be possible for you to quit smoking? For instance, when your body is hungry, you can always let the mind gain control. We call that ’fasting’. So, it finally boils down to how your mind handles the feeling right?
@ Alpheus
Try to see it in a different perspective. What if your conscious mind urges you to have a puff while the subconscious mind holds you back? Finally, its your conscious being that overpowers the sub-c. As far as resemblances between ’fasting’ and giving smoking a break is concerned, I don’t find any. I would say you can survive without food for one day, none of us, I believe can quit it forever.
Try to see it in a different perspective. What if your conscious mind urges you to have a puff while the subconscious mind holds you back? Finally, its your conscious being that overpowers the sub-c. As far as resemblances between ’fasting’ and giving smoking a break is concerned, I don’t find any. I would say you can survive without food for one day, none of us, I believe can quit it forever.
Desh, since we are talking about comparisons, let’s put it this way - food saves while cigarette kills. So, quitting in the latter case is what your mind would ask your body to do. Since the conscious mind is overpowering the sub-conscious then one must be making an intelligent decision. And I presume the conscious mind never gives in to an addiction. the Sub-c does, certainly.
It is all about instinct people, regardless of your brain being in a conscious or a subconscious state.
i gave t up three months back and it was purely an instinctive decision. All you got to understand is that it kills you and then your willpower decides whether you can give it up or not. Believe me, it isn’t difficult at all. Just an instantaneous thought in your solitude can prompt the positive reaction.
i gave t up three months back and it was purely an instinctive decision. All you got to understand is that it kills you and then your willpower decides whether you can give it up or not. Believe me, it isn’t difficult at all. Just an instantaneous thought in your solitude can prompt the positive reaction.
Do people need instincts to understand smoking kills? Or do they need hard-hitting adverts to help them realize this? Are people ignorant of this fact when they start smoking? And as far as I know, instinctive decisions emerge from the sub-c. So, it finally comes down to intent and not instinct. Yea, I do agree that ’an instantaneous thought in your solitude can prompt the positive reaction.’ Just that, you need to initiate the thought on a conscious level.
@ Atul,
You said you used to smoke and have left it for just 3 months; it was an instinctive decision that prompted you to do that. I want to ask if there was nothing in your c or sub-c mind regarding the ill effects of this habit. What I want to say is its your mind, directly or indirectly, that would have prompted your will to call it a day. Mind and brain are different entities, I presume.
You said you used to smoke and have left it for just 3 months; it was an instinctive decision that prompted you to do that. I want to ask if there was nothing in your c or sub-c mind regarding the ill effects of this habit. What I want to say is its your mind, directly or indirectly, that would have prompted your will to call it a day. Mind and brain are different entities, I presume.
@Alphues
I might be wrong in not picking up on sub-c but yes for me it was all instinctive.
@Desh
It weren’t any major thoughts that I had to go through before quitting it. When you want to do it you just do it but when you don’t, you don’t. I was into it for six long years and then one morning I got up and thought about giving it a try by chucking my pack in the bin and i haven’t looked back ever since. It wasn’t that I started thinking of it a night before or I took into consideration the good or bad effects.
I might be wrong in not picking up on sub-c but yes for me it was all instinctive.
@Desh
It weren’t any major thoughts that I had to go through before quitting it. When you want to do it you just do it but when you don’t, you don’t. I was into it for six long years and then one morning I got up and thought about giving it a try by chucking my pack in the bin and i haven’t looked back ever since. It wasn’t that I started thinking of it a night before or I took into consideration the good or bad effects.
@ Alpheus
Though its not the very outset, I wish to make one thing very clear, I am not supporting or favoring Smoking. What my purport is to let you know what I personally believe the psychology behind quitting this habit or not is.
No doubt, food saves and cig kills. But in the latter case, its not that easy to hear the plea of mind. These are no sermons but someone has said and I have quoted that unanimous so many times,” Quitting smoking is the easiest thing to do, I have myself left it dozen of times.”
Sub-conscious mind always is a subordinate to your conscious being. So, why would it not hear to its superior?
Though its not the very outset, I wish to make one thing very clear, I am not supporting or favoring Smoking. What my purport is to let you know what I personally believe the psychology behind quitting this habit or not is.
No doubt, food saves and cig kills. But in the latter case, its not that easy to hear the plea of mind. These are no sermons but someone has said and I have quoted that unanimous so many times,” Quitting smoking is the easiest thing to do, I have myself left it dozen of times.”
Sub-conscious mind always is a subordinate to your conscious being. So, why would it not hear to its superior?
Will power is all you need to kick the butt. I know of people who had been smoking six packs a day who then quit smoking one fine day and they haven’t touched another cigar since then. So at the end of the day, I think it is will power that counts rather than anything else.
BINGO Jay! Take a decision that you don’t want to do it anymore and then it is all about will power. The more grittier you are, the lesser are the chances of you falling into the trap anymore and once you start realizing the advantages of quitting it, you would never want to do it again for the sheer pleasure you get in being a non-smoker.
Self determination and discipline are of course vital to give up an addiction. But this is what most people find hard to practice. That is the primary reason why they addicted in the first place. Desh has explained the smoker’s psychology well. This goes for a lot of other addictions as well. Owing to the complexity and diversity of human psychology, the solution that works for one may not work for another person. So taking all the factors mentioned here, it is best for one to choose the option that works for him/her the best.
Why? Because cigarettes can be easily had. They are all over for the purchase. Also, because smoking can be easily done. For the can’t-kick-it-though-I-want-to smokers, try quitting in Singapore. The entire island is smoke-free.
So much has been said about will power and special aids to help quit smoking.Whatever reasons the smokers give for smoking or for their inability to give up smoking they must remember the harm they cause to the people around him who dont smoke.The smokers suffer for what THEY themselves do.But what do the passive smokers suffer for?Think specially of the kids with dads who smoke!
Yes easy availability of cigarettes and added to that cheap pricing are definitely factors that are encouraging smoking.Our government is rising the prices of essential food items, rising the price of cigarettes and its cousins will solve both the problem of malnourishment and ill-effects of smoking.
Moreover the statutory warnings are dummy messages and when their print is so microscopic it conveys a message that it is the least important point made and something that can be easily ignored. Of course in the legal scenario, smoking is being banned in some public places in India and a non-smoker has the right to ask his smoking neighbor to stop smoking. I would like to know how it is done in Singapore. Maybe we can implement the same principle here.
Another very good point that has been raised here is that of the passive smoker. Smoking is such an addiction that unlike other addictions, it harms not only the addict but also others around which is very pathetic indeed. Surely children and elderly or for that matter any individual suffering at the cost of another’s habit is intolerable and stricter action should be taken by the concerned social authorities in this regard.
Moreover the statutory warnings are dummy messages and when their print is so microscopic it conveys a message that it is the least important point made and something that can be easily ignored. Of course in the legal scenario, smoking is being banned in some public places in India and a non-smoker has the right to ask his smoking neighbor to stop smoking. I would like to know how it is done in Singapore. Maybe we can implement the same principle here.
Another very good point that has been raised here is that of the passive smoker. Smoking is such an addiction that unlike other addictions, it harms not only the addict but also others around which is very pathetic indeed. Surely children and elderly or for that matter any individual suffering at the cost of another’s habit is intolerable and stricter action should be taken by the concerned social authorities in this regard.
@Leena
A smoker would never give up on smoking irrespective the rise in price. It may only prompt him to have a change of brands at the max. Indeed, the prices of tobacco or related products very increased pretty recently but I never saw any of my friends quitting the habit. Even Easy availability isn’t a deterrent factor for a chain smoker for then he would resort to stacking. Bottomline- A smoker has to smoke irrespective the scenario and all these practices can seldom change him
A smoker would never give up on smoking irrespective the rise in price. It may only prompt him to have a change of brands at the max. Indeed, the prices of tobacco or related products very increased pretty recently but I never saw any of my friends quitting the habit. Even Easy availability isn’t a deterrent factor for a chain smoker for then he would resort to stacking. Bottomline- A smoker has to smoke irrespective the scenario and all these practices can seldom change him
you say that price hikes will not make a difference …but just consider this idea(you can laugh at it if you want to later saying that it is theoretical ). Let us take local made cigarettes that are used on a large scale. I don’t know the price of one, maybe its 1 or 2 rs. Max 5 rs. ? Now if you price a cigarette for 10 rs. A lot of the middle class will actually stop buying it. At least it will stop chain smoking. Since a cigarette is a no good item raising its price is not going to harm anybody. Hence such a step can be taken. Moreover the high cost will serve as a penalty for those who cannot quit the habit…and if this is implemented for all the local brands of cigarettes the smoker will not have the option of switching brands.
The profit got can be used by the government for a social cause…may be nourishing our underprivileged children. At least smoking can do good to the society that way
The profit got can be used by the government for a social cause…may be nourishing our underprivileged children. At least smoking can do good to the society that way
@atul
you say that price hikes will not make a difference …but just consider this idea(you can laugh at it if you want to later saying that it is theoretical ). Let us take local made cigarettes that are used on a large scale. I don’t know the price of one, maybe its 1 or 2 rs. Max 5 rs. ? Now if you price a cigarette for 10 rs. A lot of the middle class will actually stop buying it. At least it will stop chain smoking. Since a cigarette is a no good item raising its price is not going to harm anybody. Hence such a step can be taken. Moreover the high cost will serve as a penalty for those who cannot quit the habit…and if this is implemented for all the local brands of cigarettes the smoker will not have the option of switching brands.
The profit got can be used by the government for a social cause…may be nourishing our underprivileged children. At least smoking can do good to the society that way
you say that price hikes will not make a difference …but just consider this idea(you can laugh at it if you want to later saying that it is theoretical ). Let us take local made cigarettes that are used on a large scale. I don’t know the price of one, maybe its 1 or 2 rs. Max 5 rs. ? Now if you price a cigarette for 10 rs. A lot of the middle class will actually stop buying it. At least it will stop chain smoking. Since a cigarette is a no good item raising its price is not going to harm anybody. Hence such a step can be taken. Moreover the high cost will serve as a penalty for those who cannot quit the habit…and if this is implemented for all the local brands of cigarettes the smoker will not have the option of switching brands.
The profit got can be used by the government for a social cause…may be nourishing our underprivileged children. At least smoking can do good to the society that way
everyone is struggling so much to provide so many logics to the sole factor that why is it so hard to quit smoking....but to go by a weired logic, will it be wrong to say that one can quit if he or she is bored of it or may be when your body doesn’t ask for it any more....its not neccessary to have logical explanations for evrything...like i can’t explain why despite being a smoker a quite a long time i never got addicted to it.....
Things would be really easy if people would just grow out of cigarettes and the body would stop asking for more. But unfortunately the addicts never get bored of their habits and with time and with discontinuing smoking the body asks for it all the more and that is where all the above logic discussed has to be implemented.