Why Quit Smoking?

Why do we smoke? My experience tells me that most people start smoking when they are quite young, often when they are still at school. We start because as young people we naturally imitate. We see our parent’s smoke, our older siblings & their friends’ smoke, movie stars, pop stars. In short most young people see it as a way of being grown up. We also gain some thing for starting to smoke, it’s an acceptance from our peers, we look older, tougher, more sophisticated, (it’s a delusion but we believe it). We can share cigarettes, give away cigarettes it’s a real currency. When we try our first cigarette, it’s disgusting, it makes us nauseous & our head spins. But we persevere, because ‘to be an adult one has to enjoy doing things that are unpleasant’.

So we cultivate our habit & like all habits, good or bad, it becomes mechanical & an unconscious action. Then we upgrade our reasons:

• Emotional: feeling stressed, upset, angry, frustrated or unhappy
• Pleasurable : to add to the enjoyment of something or as a reward
• Social pressure : to feel part of the crowd
• Habitual : we develop triggers linking smoking with other activities e.g. having a cup of coffee, talking on the phone, driving the car etc.
• Addiction : to satisfy the craving for nicotine

And here are a few more excuses;

• Something to do to alleviate boredom & loneliness
• Keeping weight down and to stop hunger
• Smoking and drinking alcohol
• Being around others who smoke
• Creating personal space or time out
• General routine and habit

Habit VS addiction

I don’t believe it is a true addiction. Someone with a true addiction (heroin, alcohol etc), they have a full on physical malfunction when they stop using their drugs. Smokers don’t! They may get a little irritable & agitated but nothing so severe. It‘s a habit, it’s a ritual, and it’s just a negative pattern. For example, nicotine patches are a measured dose of approximately 21mg of nicotine, that is the equivalent of 30+ cigarettes strapped to your arm. So if it were a simple addiction to nicotine, then far more smokers would be able to stop smoking using nicotine replacement methods. When smokers claim it helps them relax, it’s worth noting that when nicotine enters the blood stream it stimulates the adrenal glands, so every time you smoke, adrenalin is released into the system, which sharpens ones senses & gives a short term high. This isn’t good & definitely does not relax the mind or body, the opposite in fact. It increases cortisol levels, which can lead to chronic stress levels & heart disease.

Trying to quit

I’m not criticizing any method of quitting. If you quit that’s the important thing, but patches have not helped the clients I’ve seen.
Other options, drugs such as Zyban, Chantix & Champix. You can do your own research, but there are studies & records suggesting psychological problem side effects such as suicide & violence. I don’t see the gain in substituting one drug for another.
And there’s the old favorite, cold turkey. Usually tried after Christmas for the new years resolution. If it works, it’s good! But for the clients I see patches, drugs or will power just didn’t help them.
Also when we say ‘try’, it betrays a failure already! Here’s an example, you invite a friend to dinner next week, their answer is, ‘I’ll try & make it, I’m not quite sure, might be busy’, we know they wont come. We give our selves the ‘out’ when we say ‘try’.

Reasons for wanting to quit

There is only one real reason to quit & that is health, to live as long as we can & be as healthy as we can be while we live. The good news is, once you have quit the miraculous power of nature starts repairing the body.

The good news, what happens physiologically after you stop?

The good news! I can’t lay claim to what happens once you quit, because it’s Mother Nature, the miraculous healing & regenerating powers of the human body at work. And of course there are many variables. How long you’ve been a smoker, how much & how regularly you did smoke etc. But here it is;

• After 20 minutes, your blood pressure will drop.
• Within hours, the bloods oxygen levels start increasing & the carbon monoxide levels start decreasing, after only 8 hours both levels will be in the normal range.
• After 24 hours, your chance of a heart attack decreases.
• After 48 hours, your smell & taste senses are enhanced. All cigarette by products have left your system.
• After 3 days, bronchial tubes will be relaxing, breathing & exercise become easier, energy levels will increase.
• 2-3 weeks, most withdrawal symptoms have gone.
• 3 weeks, the hair like cilia lining of your lungs start to sweep out the build up of tar & mucus, enabling you to cough it up.
• 1 month, your circulation will have improved, blood pressure & pulse rates will also decrease. Immune system will have improved reducing susceptibility to colds, flu & infections.
• 2 months, blood flow becomes stronger, the hands & feet will be warmer. Improved lung function, breathing will be much easier & your lungs will no longer be producing extra phlegm.
• 3 months, lung function can increase by 30%, resulting in increased oxygen levels & therefore energy levels.
• 12 months, your risk of heart attack is 50% less likely than someone who still smokes.
• Smoking can cause erectile dysfunction too, there is evidence that quitting may restore & actually improve erectile dysfunction.

There is no valid reason to continue to poison ones self with cigarettes & so many encouraging reasons to quit ASAP & stay that way.

* Sources: 1 US Dept of Health & Human Services Public Health Services National Institute of Health.