This is the third part of a series of articles about smoking. Here I will talk about why do people smoke. Probably among the most common causes of smoking, which I will designate, there are those because of which you smoke.
But, for starters, try to ask yourself: “Why do I smoke?” To answer this question, remember all those moments when the process of absorbing tobacco smoke is most enjoyable when it saves and helps you out. Saves from what? In what situations does it have to be most relevant?
Why do people start smoking. The main causes of smoking
Let's try to get closer. Here in my opinion the most common psychological causes of smoking.
- The need for constant stimulation of the senses: probably the main factor in the emergence of habits. You want to take something hand and mouth, inhale smoke, feel the effects of nicotine on yourself. You experience discomfort if you are not engaged in anything. Many for this reason gnaw seeds, constantly play games on the phone, listen to the player, buy unnecessary things, eat a lot, and you smoke (or do it all together). This is due to some hidden tension that emanates from the inside; it is far from always noticeable and has little to do with ordinary nervousness. It lies somewhere deeply and carefully disguised, you do not even think about it, although it exists and continues to negatively influence your personality and attract new bad habits to your orbit. This stress is scientifically called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Nervousness, anxiety: many people are very nervous and can't do anything about it. Not because it is impossible, but because they do not know how to stop being nervous. This is not limited to the action of nicotine itself. When you inhale smoke, as a rule, you leave the room on the air, you make repetitive rhythmic movements and, combined with the action of nicotine itself in combination with fresh air and a pause, it relaxes you.
- Inability to relax and cope with stress: partly echoes the previous point. You are constantly tense and have not yet learned how to relax on your own without the help of any dope. Therefore, you need a ritual like smoking.
- Constraint in communication, excitement and shyness in front of people: you have difficulty in communication, especially with unfamiliar people. You are depressed by the pauses in the conversation, and you are just shy. Of course cigarettes rescues you, it fills these pauses and just soothes you.
- Exposure to the feeling of boredom: echoes the first point, which is partially derived from the current factor. When you are bored, you do not find a place for yourself, you are looking for something to occupy, smoking is a way out for you - everything is simple.
- Poorly developed willpower: you find it difficult to deny yourself your desires, if there is any need, then you immediately satisfy it: you do not tolerate hunger, sexual desire, you find it difficult to fight laziness, with sudden momentary whims. You follow the needs of your body and do not know the measures in them. Therefore, you smoke and can not quit.
- Misconceptions caused by lack of information: a fairly rare case, due to active anti-tobacco propaganda and the availability of information. But perhaps someone believes that smoking is almost not harmful, and therefore smokes.
The fight against the cause and not the effect. Does it require much from us?
On this and stop. Perhaps you have already understood that I am going to propose a method for adjusting such personal properties as nervousness, the need to occupy hands, etc. Is it a lot of all this in order to simply eliminate one single habit? Isn't this howitzer sparrow firing? I just want to stop ruining the health of tobacco, and not to change myself, rebuilding my personality, you say.
This is a completely logical statement. Let's answer household analogy. You need to remove cockroaches from your apartment. Of course, it would be nice to persecute: buy all sorts of traps with poison for insects and arrange them around the apartment. Whatever you do. Cockroaches disappear. Hooray! But the joy does not last long. A week later, the parasites returned. So what's the deal?
Let's try to figure out why insects have flooded your apartment. It turns out you have a mess everywhere, a lot of rubbish is piled up everywhere, you tend to forget to put food in the fridge and it lies and goes bad, a month-old sandwich is lying around the stove, where you are lazy to get it, you don’t take out the garbage for a long time trash can in the kitchen and rot. Because of this, cockroaches and perceive your housing as their home where there is always food for them.
It is clear that one persecution is indispensable, it is necessary to bring an apartment in order, to carry out a major purge. Maybe this is too much action just for the eviction of cockroaches? But after all, arranging the cleaning, you not only cope with the problem of dirty pests, you bring comfort to the apartment, it becomes more pleasant to live and work in it, you are less depressed by the home environment, you relax much better when you do not live in disarray. It is no longer a shame to bring guests, in your home it began to smell good, the smell of rotten food disappeared, mountains of unwashed dishes disappeared. In addition, it is just hygienic.
You not only eliminated cockroaches, you brought comfort to your home and made life more comfortable in it! And insects are now unlikely to return back (provided that you continue to keep order), since you have eliminated the very reason for their appearance!
Also with smoking. Getting rid of the above disadvantages will not only help you to stop smoking without much effort as a locomotive, but it will change you, make your life better, and make you a happier and more balanced person. (If you still think that you cannot change yourself, I recommend reading my article by reference) Trying to get rid of one particular problem, you immediately solve a whole range of problematic features of your personality!
And when you eliminate the source of the addiction itself, it will not be difficult to quit tobacco. And in fact, why do you need it when you are able to relax and you do not need to pull something in your hands to feel comfortable. Only by eliminating the very reason for the habit, you practically guarantee yourself that you will never smoke and never look for a replacement for smoking in new harmful hobbies (including uncontrolled gluttony - After I quit, I did not gain a single kilogram)!
Why do many believe in miraculous fashionable ways to give up cigarettes?
This is so obvious, but for some reason, not everyone understands this and continues to use patches, chewing gums and think only about how to overcome the physical symptoms of addiction! Probably, the understanding of such a simple truth is hindered by human laziness and unwillingness to work on yourself.
This is what explains the demand for all sorts of “revolutionary”, fast methods of combating nicotine addiction. My way of giving up cigarettes is very simple, but the object of its impact is not nicotine addiction itself, but its cause! While many of the “progressive” ways to quit smoking are struggling with consequence with an enviable stubbornness!
Of course, patches can be used, but only after you realize why you smoke and work on yourself! As well as baiting cockroaches will be effective only when you remove the entire mess. But I still would not recommend such means of alleviating the syndrome.
You have to do everything yourself, without the help of any means that replace nicotine, as this will give a good impetus to the development of willpower and control of your desires. When you go through it once, it will be easier to restrain yourself if you suddenly want to drag on. It tempers you and disciplines you. I managed one cud (the usual “orbits” without nicotine), but I think there was no need for that either.
When we figured out the causes of the habit, it is time to tell how to get rid of them. I will also touch on how to set yourself up on throwing cigarettes and how best to endure withdrawal syndrome.
Moving on to the last part. How to quit smoking on your own and set yourself up for quitting tobacco.
