Quitting Smoking - The Psychological Effects

Hello and welcome,

I’d like to talk about smoking today, and what is involved in trying to quit. Most people have woken up to the reality that smoking is very harmful and will certainly kill them if they continue, so quitting smoking is the smartest thing they can do. Is it easy? You know it isn’t, but many thousands of people quit each year and so can you. Here are some facts concerning why it’s so difficult to quit.

Knowing all the health risks involved with smoking (like lung cancer and emphysema), knowing that there are over 4,000 chemical compounds present in inhaled smoke (many of which are known carcinogens), and yet you tell yourself, like so many others keep telling themselves, that you like smoking and that you don’t want to quit? Trying to justify it doesn’t work after awhile!

They call smoking an addiction for a reason, because it is one of the hardest addictions to quit, nearly as difficult as heroin according to research. Some people can quit smoking cold turkey, but they are in the minority. Smoking appeals to people not only on a physical level, but on a strong emotional one too. This is why it is so difficult to quit, but you can do it! You need a program that doesn’t just help you deal with one side of the addition, but both. Studies show that programs that address both sides of the issue have a higher success rate.

There may be many reasons why one would consider quitting smoking: for family, for health reasons, because the cost is just too high, or maybe all of the above.

The physical side of addiction

Your brain produces chemicals that help regulate your moods and if your brain doesn’t produce enough of these chemicals then you can end up with irritability and bad moods. Nicotine helps to stimulate the production of these chemicals. These chemicals include nor epinephrine, which regulates alertness and arousal, dopamine, which is part of your brains pleasure mechanism, and beta endorphin, which helps to lessen anxiety and pain.

Unfortunately these reactions to smoking are short lived and eventually you crave those feeling again. And sooner or later you trick your mind and body into thinking that smoking is the only way to induce these feelings.

The emotional side of addiction

Thinking back, you find that cigarettes have helped you in many situations: cigarettes have helped you relax in periods of time when you felt stressed or helped keep you more alert in periods of time when you needed to stay awake (like driving home late at night or when you needed to complete a project). Cigarettes might have helped you socially at a party, coffee house, or at work because you automatically have that link to other smokers.  When you needed it, it was there for you.

The truth of the matter is you don’t need it as much as you think. You have the ability to be a confident, happy person, without the mood effects of cigarettes. But first you need to quit smoking. Nicotine can stay in your body between 2-4 days once you’ve given up cigarettes. This is why nicotine programs that offer to help you quit smoking can prolong your need for nicotine because your body will continue craving it.

Subject: Nicotine withdrawals

When trying to quit smoking the biggest obstacle is nicotine withdrawal. Withdrawals are both physical and emotional.  Physically the body reacts to the lack of nicotine and emotionally you are faced with changing your behavior. Both needs must be faced in order to successfully quit smoking. A smoker will normally feel physical withdrawals only a few hours after their last cigarette, but it is even greatest after 2-3 days. Symptoms include: dizziness, depression, frustration, anger, anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbances, concentration problems, headaches, and increased appetite that can last up to a few weeks.  It is these symptoms that cause smokers to easily relapse after trying to quit smoking cold turkey.

There are many products out there to help you quit smoking, but when they only address one side of quitting, such as the physical side, you end up having a greater chance of failure.

To reduce this chance it is important to find a program that has products that contain ingredients designed to help you fight the physical withdrawals of quitting and that help you combat the emotional and behavioral side of quitting as well.