If you are someone that smokes no doubt you will have a strong opinion on the above question. Whilst the jury may still be out on blaming whether addiction to nicotine is the reason why most people find quitting smoking difficult, most smokers themselves would agree that nicotine is definitely the culprit.
Professionals in the field of quitting smoking are mixed in their view though. Whilst they agree that nicotine may be highly toxic (3 times more poisonous than arsenic) for just one drop of pure nicotine can kill a fully grown cow, they are not sure just how addictive it is. Certainly compared to other drugs such as heroine, cocaine and amphetemines, nicotine appears comparitatively mild.
After 10 seconds of inhaling tobacco smoke, nicotine is absorbed into your blood stream and affecting your brain, triggering the ‘stress response’ also known as ‘flight or fight’ through the release of the hormone adrenaline. This means that your blood pressure and heart rate is increased, and the blood flow to your heart is restricted, which is why your breathing becomes shallower and faster than normal.
At the same time, nicotine has also inhibited the release of insulin which is not good, as insulin is necessary to reduce the amount of sugar in your bloodstream created by the rush of adrenalin. This results in a high sugar level. The more frequent these chemical changes occur in your body, the higher the risk to your health.
In addition nicotine, along with other drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine, also raises the level of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter in the brain, which is responsible for that ‘happy’ feeling of pleasure you experience when you smoke. This is where the ‘addiction’ part comes in, for as you enjoy this experience, in exactly the same way as someone abusing Class A drugs, the more you want it.
The difference is that although nicotine is highly addictive, it is not as long lasting as other drugs. The pleasant effects wear off quickly and before long you need another cigarette. In conclusion of this, it is easy to accept that nicotine has addictive qualities.
However, unlike other addictive drugs, you can metabolise all the nicotine in your body in around 72 hours. Which means that if you can stick out the withdrawal symptoms, which can range from mild to moderate (in comparison with other drugs) you should theoretically be free of the addiction and never have the urge to smoke again.
So why is it then that so many people go back to smoking a few weeks or months after they’ve quit?
Surely if the nicotine is no longer present in their body, resisting cigarettes and tobacco products should be easy. This is the period I call the ‘danger’ period for the smoker and this is one of the reasons why there is so much debate around whether smoking is addictive or not. Once someone has passed through the worse of their withdrawal symptoms, he or she usually feels great about themselves. They often think they have ‘cracked it’ having perceived to have conquered the problem and so their guard goes down. Big mistake, for unfortunately they have not understood that there is another dark side to cigarettes that they probably didn’t realise existed, and therefore could not be prepared for.
Addiction means so many different things to different people, which is why it is so important to tackle your beliefs about smoking so that you can understand your own smoking habit. Your language and the words you use to describe your habit will give you clues. Perspectives on whether smoking is addictive or not rests on what we believe. There is no right or wrong answer. Whatever you believe will be true for you. Which is why I believe there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to quitting smoking. If there was there would be a lot more sucessful ex-smokers around!
It is so important then to get help with transforming those beliefs that do not serve you into ones that do, especially if you want to make a success at creating a new life for yourself as a permanent non-smoker. What’s more because of the psychological dependence that smoking creates, it means that you are in a relationship with cigarettes and tobacco products that, like any other relationship, so it will take time to adjust to a new way of living, as you adjust to the loss of losing your companion, the cigarette.
Quitting smoking is not a one-off event that lasts 3-4 days. It is a process. It is a process of renewing your mind to a new belief pattern. It is also a process of time to allow your brain to re-learn and adjust to being nicotine free. It is a process of changing habits and a new way of thinking.
It is during these periods that support is often essential to success. Which is one of the reasons why that only around 4- 7% of smokers successfully quit without help. In light of that doesn’t it make sense to get all the help you can before you start your next attempt to quit smoking?
Download my eBook ‘7 Big Mistakes People Unwittingly Make to Stop Smoking’ today (featured above) as your next step in understanding how to avoid falling into other snares that lay in wait to keep you trapped in the smoking cycle. Click on the image of the ebook for immediate access or cut and paste this link in your browser https://www.want-to-stop-smoking.com
Until the next time,
Success and happiness
