Cigarette Addiction

Is cigarette smoking an addiction or habit?

We all assume that smoking is an addiction – one that it is too hard to beat. Because if you weren’t addicted, you could quit smoking any time you like.

But is it an addiction, or is it a very strong habit?

The main reason we all believe that smoking is addictive because the tobacco companies tell is that it is. And it is very beneficial for them, if we believe them. Do you know how much it costs to put an average packet of 20 cigarettes on the shelf? I find the answer shocking, it’s 60 cents! So, the tobacco companies make a massive profit and so does the government, in taxes.

However, giving up cigarettes does not have the physical impacts (the withdrawal symptoms) as giving up an addicting chemical like cocaine or heroin. Your body simply does not start to malfunction when you go without a cigarette – say overnight while you sleep, during a good movie, or an airplane ride. This is not so for heroin addicts, or alcoholics.

People who have given up smoking refer to headaches, irritation, sore throats, shaking hands … these are more of an irritant than a physical malfunction. There are no sweats, shakes, heart palpitations, nausea, etc. You do not end up curled up on the floor, unable to move if you do not have a cigarette.

We have all heard of people who got lung cancer from passive smoking. This means they were breathing in enough nicotine to kill them – but they didn’t become addicted to smoking.

So if we are not talking about physical addiction, then we must think of smoking as a habit. A very strong, very ingrained, very powerful habit. From your first cigarette in the morning until the last one at the end of the day, smoking is something that you do repeatedly throughout the day, constantly reinforcing your habit.

Because it is a habit, what you need to do is stop. Not cut down, simply decide to quit.

Think about patches and gum. They provide you with a ‘hit’ of nicotine – one day’s worth of patches contains the same amount of nicotine as about six packs a day. You are receiving more nicotine in a day than you have probably ever had in your life.

But people still want a cigarette. If smoking is a physical addiction, how is that possible? It happens because it is a habit, not an addiction.

When you do give up smoking, it will seem like something is missing. You have stopped a habit that has a very large impact on your life and you are going to notice it. Some people will not notice a void in their lives, but the average person certainly will.

But it is only a void. It is not that you need a cigarette; it is that you used to have a habit that you indulged in about twenty times a day. And now you don’t.

So people find they want to do something with their hands or they become fidgety. This happens only because you want something to do with your hands again.

Noticing a void or playing with your hands is a sign that the hypnosis is working – because your subconscious mind doesn’t want a cigarette, your conscious mind doesn’t know what to do.

You need to acknowledge these feelings, accept them and enjoy the fact that you don’t smoke anymore. Because cigarette smoking is not so much a physical addiction as a strong habit and that is what you want to quit.

Contact Tim Thornton to book your appointment to quit cigarettes today.