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Browse through 411.742 posts in 47.053 threads.

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Why ? Why is it hard to stop smoking? Why do you want to smoke another cigarette?


18 years ago 0 61 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Tomorrow I celebrate my 1 month anniversary to quitting!!! I am alos reading Allan Carr's book and a lot of the things in there are really logical and easy... One question he raises and I would really be interested in what you all might answer.. why? My head says "I want a cig!" if I ask myself why - I cannot think of an answer that is really true. Makes me calmer? no! Helps me solve the problems? no! keeps me occupied? no! etc, etc.. any ideas? phoenix [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/24/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 27 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 820 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �202.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 2 [B]Mins:[/B] 27 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57
18 years ago 0 61 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
and this is the point allen makes... Habit - ok, but habits are easy to stop Addicts - ok, but nicotine really isn't that big of a deal as heroine, and if you wanted to, you can use the patch. So where is the big deal? What makes it soooo hard for us to quit? I guess what I am trying to verify or to communicate is that maybe allen carr's suggestion is right! It isn't hard - it is EASY and if we say it is easy then it is easy. phoenix ps I am trying to get psychology in here and I am trying to get a discussion going for those of us that are quitting and trying to get through all the wants. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/24/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 27 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 826 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �202.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 9 [B]Seconds:[/B] 58
18 years ago 0 60 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I fight with that question everyday. I desire it why? I think it will make me feel better, I think I enjoy it, I feel lost without it? why do we feel that way. why cant we just walk away from something that is not good for us and only takes from us. I want to know myself. Why I could push everything I know away to want to run and have a cigarette. Good question, I wish I knew the answer. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/1/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 23 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 705 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $115 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 56 [B]Seconds:[/B] 46
18 years ago 0 2614 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Phoenix This is a great discussion, thanks. Great question why do we want a cigarette. There is no healthy reason why we should want. Fact is we become addicted to a drug. We also (many of us, not all, rembering we are all individual) have grown up as smokers. Many have gone from childhood to adulthood and extended adulthood as smokers, we know no other way. There is no easy or diffucult in this. I am I know working to reformat, remap and remake all new connections. The world is all new and there is a part of me that says you re old enough you should know and I simply do not. The most importat thing for me is commitmet and constancy. One step at a time. This reformating thing is huge for me and when I started this quit I had no idea that there would be so much to relearn about my life. This is where my emotions kick in and then I am into a whole new space. For me the hardest and the most simple part is how I keep my word to myself. How do I deconstruct 36 years of programming and reconstruct in minutes, days. I don't think it is possible and the whole quit ends up being a proces rather than a turn the switch on or off. This process I hope will go on for my all my life. Rather than choosing that next cigarette I consciously choose constant renewal This is the only way I will be new, fresh and full of life. Thanks [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/17/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 34 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 693 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $255 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 44 [B]Seconds:[/B] 20
18 years ago 0 456 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
The only answer I have is HABIT. We do many things habitually from driving to writing to walking... No reason otherwise.. Christine [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 2/1/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 50 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,259 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $175 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 2 [B]Seconds:[/B] 14
18 years ago 0 214 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Phoenix, I often wonder why some people start smoking and some people never do. The same thing applies to drugs, and alcohol. Why is it some people are alcoholics while I really don't like liquor at all. I can take it or leave it. I have had friends who smoked but could stop whenever they wanted to without any problems at all. They could take it or leave it. That same person is very dangerously overweight, so food is her addiction. I think some people are just predisposed to be addicted to something and I think those addictions always start for emotional reasons. That is not to say that with a lot of effort on our parts we can't change that addiction. The addictions start for an emotional reason and then the physical compontent comes to play along with it. When you think about all of the things people get addicted to- food, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and even sex addicts, there are probably a very small percentage of people on the face of the earth that do not have one of these problems. For some reason people have a hard time making themselves feel better within themselves and look to outside things to make them feel better even if they know it is not good for them. Why elese would anyone do something that is not good for them if they didn't believe it made them feel better. Our coping mechanism skills kind of suck. That is what we are learning to do now. What we are learning now can be applied to any kind of addiction. We are finally learning that we can control how we feel without using an outside source. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/11/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 75 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,516 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $300 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 38 [B]Seconds:[/B] 45
18 years ago 0 2830 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
pheonix, The thing about Nicotine addiction is that it's not ALL in our minds! Yes, it's about 90% or more mental, but when virtually every single person on this site goes through very similar PHYSICAL withdrawal symptoms, that's NOT mental!!!!! There's something physical about that! If you read Shevie's "rewards, nicotine and the brain" in the General Forum (it was bumped today, so it's on the first page) you will see that nicotine was our way of "self-medicating" ourselves to make us feel good... as soon as we quit doing that, our bodies aren't getting the dopomine that we NEED!!! That's a PHYSICAL thing... not just mental. So while most of quitting IS a head game, there are biological reasons why we want cigarettes even though we know that they are bad for us. The best way to get through them is to just get through them any way you can!!! That's been my experience! There have been A LOT of people on this site who have used different methods to quit and manage to do so effectively and successfully... as long as it gets done, then that's all that matters. I think one way to get through the cravings is to occupy your mind with a good debate like you've done here. :) So good job with that! Keep up the great work! Crave the Quit! Pam [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 10/28/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 146 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,674 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $481.8 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 10 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 59 [B]Seconds:[/B] 20
18 years ago 0 2830 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
While I think quitting is SIMPLE... just don't light another cigarette, saying that it is EAST to quit runs the risk of belittling those who are struggling. And saying that nicotine isn't as big of a deal as heroine, I'm not quite sure what you mean by that? Afterall, nicotine is MORE addictive than heroine or cocaine. It also causes life threatening illnesses like cancer and emphysema, so saying that it's "not a big deal" is completely wrong in my opinion. Quitting is not easy, although the concept is quite simple... just don't smoke. If quitting were easy, there would be no reason to have this site here. And as for the argument of the patch, even people on the patch have moderate to severe cravings, so it's not like the patch takes away every craving you have. There is no method that makes quitting EASY. Can you tell I love an argument too? ;p Keep it coming! This is fun! Crave the Quit! Pam [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 10/28/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 146 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,664 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $481.8 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 10 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 17 [B]Seconds:[/B] 9
18 years ago 0 2830 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Because we are addicts!!!!! Simple as that! If you want a more complicated reason, read Shevie's "rewards, nicotine and the brain" to find out about how nicotine affects dopamine levels, which make us feel good and without nicotine, we can often get depressed, so we crave nicotine in order to feel good... even though what it really does is causes harm to our bodies. I'm not sure if you wanted an answer that complicated, so I'll just say: ADDICTION!!! That's why! Crave the Quit! Pam [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 10/28/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 146 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,659 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $481.8 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 10 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 21
18 years ago 0 2027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi, Phoenix. Why do we want to light that cig? What do we expect from it other than nicotine? We expect nothing really, just the nicotine. Oh sure, we may use the excuses that it "relaxes us", or makes us "more alert", or "improves the memory", or a host of others. But the bottom line is our brains have become accustomed to the presence of nicotine and until they recover from that they are going to want it and that want will manifest as the need for a cig. If we had used smokeless tobacco, we'd want that instead of the cig. This process is true for any addiction, whether it be to an external chemical (i.e. nicotine, heroin, etc.) or to an activity (gambling, danger, porn, etc.). Each one stimulates the brain in a way it finds pleasurable by elevating the levels of dopamine, endorphins, etc. When those levels drop it creates cravings for whatever the source of the stimulation was that caused their increase. This happens on a very primitive level in the subconscious. In some people, this primitive need can actually override the rational, causing them to do whatever they need to satisfy it. Studies have shown that nicotine is more addictive than heroin and cocaine. In fact, the brain�s response to nicotine is very similar to its response to cocaine. It is true that people have, physically, a much harder time breaking a heroin addiction than quitting tobacco, but nobody mainlines nicotine. People who have quit heroin, cocaine, and/or alcohol addictions as well as quit smoking say that quitting smoking was the hardest. As to the psychology of quitting heroin vs. nicotine, I think that since heroin is an illegal substance it attracts a different psychological profile than are the majority of smokers. IMO, these people tend to be more thrill seeking, less constrained by social and legal conventions, and have less self control. If there are any people in the social/psychology fields who can shed better light on this, please speak up. I�d be most interested in your input. Shevie [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 5/23/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 305 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 6,109 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1159 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 56 [B]Hrs:[/B] 22 [B]Mins:[/B] 48 [B]Seconds:[/B] 35

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