Every day there are more and more smokers, not only adults but also adolescents. Why do people deliberately poison their bodies and endanger their health? The reasons for smoking are different for everyone. Some "lighten up" stress, others do not want to be the black sheep in the company of friends, and still others kill time in this way. An addiction takes on the magnitude of a disaster, destroying a person not only physically, but also psychologically.
Why does cigarette addiction appear?
In order to answer the question of what is so attractive about smoking, you need to understand how nicotine acts on the body. The first cigarette is not pleasant. After inhaling tobacco smoke, dizziness, nausea, cough appear, and tremors in the limbs may occur. It would seem that all these sensations should become motivations for not having a cigarette. But if for some reason a person continues to smoke, the body gradually gets used to nicotine.
During the first months, smoking is pleasant. Within 10 minutes after the first puff, certain processes occur in the body. Adrenaline production increases, the person begins to feel euphoria, the speed of thinking and concentration increases, and a feeling of calm appears. But over time, the pleasure of smoking gives way to a real addiction. Nicotine enters the metabolism and the body gets used to the fact that this substance is constantly present in the blood. When the nicotine concentration decreases, the nervous system signals that it is time to cool down. It makes you want to have another cigarette. The time from the first cigarette to nicotine addiction is individual for everyone. Most often it takes a year or a year and a half.
Studies have shown that the psychology of nicotine addiction is different in men and women. Men smoke because they are used to it, they like to play with a cigarette in their hand and smell the aroma of smoke. The reasons why women smoke are the pleasure of the process itself. In addition, tobacco companies themselves encourage the weaker sex to start smoking by producing their products in beautiful packaging with various flavors. In a circle of smoking friends, a girl with a cigarette and a glass of wine feels supported, a desire to talk, to share her secrets appears.
Psychological reasons for smoking in adults and adolescents
How many people, so many reasons. Teenagers most often smoke because they feel peer pressure. A teenager wants to be like everyone else, to become "one of his own".
Recruitment into a group of smokers is done among individuals who have no opinion. The same situation can arise in couples where one partner smokes and forces the other to join them, otherwise their relationship will end.
Another reason why adolescents smoke tobacco is the feeling of independence. Of course, this is an illusory feeling that allows you to grow only theoretically and only among your peers.
Family relationships to a large extent become a prerequisite for a child's future nicotine addiction. If one or both parents smoke, it is very likely that their offspring will start smoking in the future.
Social networks, attractive advertising on the Internet and on television, illuminated billboards in the streets, all this unconsciously pushes young people to smoke. Even out of curiosity, the probability that he will smoke sooner or later is higher than average.
The reasons for starting smoking as adults are somewhat different, although in some cases they are similar to those of adolescents:
- "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder", which means the desire to take care of at least something. Some cope with the situation by shopping, others by gnawing sunflower seeds, eating, playing computer games, etc. Smokers, on the other hand, occupy their hands and mouth with a cigarette, they like to feel the taste of the smoke and the sensation that the nicotine has on their body;
- nervousness. Stress at work or at home leads to constant irritability. How to get out of the situation and calm down? For some, the only solution is cigarettes. Smoking in the fresh air or while drinking a cup of coffee becomes a sort of ritual. Of course, you can find many other ways to relax, but not everyone wants to do that;
- shyness and inability to communicate with people. If a person is naturally reserved and does not know how to talk to unfamiliar people, then every pause in the dialogue becomes torture. Smoking in such situations is a kind of substitute for communication, a "plug" of breaks;
- weak will. Once you get involved in the smoking process, you can become a real domestic drug addict. Weak people, no matter how hard they try to get rid of their addiction, cannot do it alone. There are plenty of reasons: I'll quit tomorrow, I had a hard day today and one cigarette won't hurt, I'll finish the pack and quit for good. You cannot cope without the help of a qualified professional;
- misconception that cigarettes are not as harmful as claimed. And if there is no risk to life, then giving up what gives pleasure is stupid;
- problems in the family, at work, with friends, mental pain due to the loss of something or someone. Smoking helps you, at least temporarily, to escape from the realities of life and immerse yourself in peace;
- solitude. People whose only friends are cigarettes will not give them up voluntarily. With their help, the feeling of uselessness briefly fades into the background.
Regardless of their reasons for starting to smoke, people do not quit. The desire to breathe in the aroma of tobacco smoke goes unnoticed. A person, most often, at a subconscious level, seeks a cigarette, each time leading himself into tobacco addiction.
The psychological reasons for smoking are all clear, but nicotine is also addictive on a physical level. In addition to increasing the activity of brain receptors, the alkaloids contained in nicotine are present in all systems of the body. Already after the first cigarette, he begins to actively adapt to a previously unknown state. And soon certain doses of nicotine become the norm for a person, and in the future they will have to be increased as the body's tolerance develops.
Psychosomatics of smoking
Scientific research has proven that the main reasons for smoking are psychological in nature. This is why it is much easier to get rid of physical cravings for nicotine than to break down psychologically. A completely adequate person, if informed about the dangers of smoking and its consequences, nods his head affirmatively, but immediately lights a cigarette. Why does this happen? The answer lies deep in the human subconscious. Internal programs, no one knows how, are activated and made dependent, without asking permission.
Why can't a person, even with strong willpower, quit smoking? He does this because he feels the desire to do so. What caused you to start smoking in your youth now prevents you from giving up the habit as an adult. And it was not simple curiosity or a feeling of euphoria that led to smoking. Now these are completely different reasons - psychosomatic.
Each time, after taking a puff of nicotine, a person feels relaxed and relieved, but by no means pleasure. All smokers have their own reasons for not quitting:
- In the morning, the nicotine associated with coffee helps you wake up and recharge your batteries;
- at a feast, smoking after a glass of cognac allows you to feel a double dose of peace;
- in a moment of emotional stress, you are relieved with a cigarette;
- nicotine triggers mental processes (depending on the smoker).
Quitting smoking once and for all without the possibility of relapse is possible only in cases where a person has convincing reasons to do so or ceases to feel the desire to inhale tobacco smoke.
Main reasons to quit smoking
The main reasons for quitting smoking are most often linked to health problems. Second is the fear of destroying relationships and family. And only then is it possible to develop a conscious desire not to ruin your health and not to spend money on cigarettes. Among the main diseases resulting from smoking are the following:
- heart and vascular problems;
- stroke;
- cancer;
- bronchitis;
- ulcers;
- emphysema.
Recurrences of pre-existing conditions can also occur.
More and more crime stories contain information about fires caused by cigarettes. For some, these are just situations that happened to someone there and have nothing to do with them personally. But when the problem affects relatives, friends and even neighbors, the idea of quitting smoking comes closer.
In many countries, the government actively fights against smoking. For example, a law was adopted according to which appropriate measures are taken:
- ban on smoking in public places;
- increase the excise tax on tobacco products;
- labeling and images with inscriptions on packages warning of the dangers of smoking;
- "information attack" from the media, teachers, parents, business leaders and corporations;
- ban on advertising of tobacco products;
- punishment for illegal cigarette trade;
- ban on sales to people under 18 years of age.
In case of non-compliance with all these rules, different types of sanctions are provided, ranging from fines to compensation for damage caused to the health of others.
How to quit smoking?
Today there are enough ways to get rid of nicotine addiction, but the main thing is the desire of the smoker himself.
- Nicotine replacement therapy. This includes medications containing nicotine in small doses, chewing gum, patches, nasal sprays, etc. A person using this or that product continues to receive nicotine, but in its pure form, without harmful impurities and smoke. Thus, it is easier to give up cigarettes, since there is a gradual cessation of smoking without withdrawal symptoms.
- Electronic signatures. The so-called nicotine inhaler draws mixed reviews among experts. Indeed, in most cases, addiction develops precisely because of the process itself, which relaxes a person emotionally. Using e-cigarettes mimics smoking, but without the consumption of carcinogens and harmful tars through the lungs. Additionally, there is no tobacco smoke that negatively affects others.
- Coding. There are many private drug treatment clinics that offer services to get rid of tobacco addiction. There are three encoding methods: hypnosis, instrumental and the Dovzhenko method. Through hypnosis, a person receives information about the dangers of smoking and the consequences that can arise from it. Instrumental methods include acupuncture, which affects various nerve centers, and laser aimed at different areas of the patient's body. The Dovzhenko method is the oldest method of getting rid of addiction. Consists of two stages. In the first case, the smoker is informed of the dangers of cigarettes, in the second, an aversion to tobacco and smoke is instilled in him. The doctor and the patient decide which method to choose.
- Psychological help. Just as with coding, the psychological impact occurs within the confines of the clinic. Individual sessions and group training are organized there. Help from specialists increases the chance of completely quitting smoking by one and a half times.
Nicotine addiction is one of the most widespread in the world. Added to this are alcoholism, drug addiction and gluttony. If a person does not realize the harm of his situation in time, this will lead to extremely undesirable consequences.