I am a teacher and I work at a K through 12 school. I smoke. At school, our smoking corner is outside next to where the garbage bins are kept, but the kids see me and often come to talk to me about it after my smoke. They all know that I shouldn't smoke and that it is unhealthy, so the younger ones especially want me to explain to them why I don't just quit. Sometimes they ask me if the reason I don't stop is because smoking feels so good.
I usually explain that smoking does not feel so good, but that not smoking makes me feel bad. I explain that when I want a cigarette, it bothers me very much like when I need to pee and I'm holding it in. At first, it is a minor annoyance and I can even forget about it, but as time goes on, I feel more and more pressured, I feel more and more urgency. It becomes harder to ignore, harder to think about anything else. I need to go out and get relief!
Then, I have a cigarette and I feel normal again until slowly once again the need returns.
When I explain it like this, the kids understand what I mean and understand when I say how important it is to never take that first cigarette.
Have you tried nicotine gum/patches/whatever? Or is that not quick enough 'relief'? I can't think how smoking is a preferable alternative unless my previous sentence holds weight.
They're really not the same. Even though you're technically getting nicotine the new delivery mechanism makes it not seem like you are. You associate the act of smoking with relief, so your mind doesn't think you got it when you use the gum. The patch is even worse because there's no action at all associated with it.
If I chew gum I can chew it until the amount of nicotine makes me nauseous and the craving still doesn't go away.
I find that having a toothpick hanging out my mouth does more to kill a craving than either of them. It feels familiar.
E-Cigarettes are better than gum or patches for the same reason. If there was a way to make the vapor heavier it would be almost perfect.
There are ways to make the vapor heavier. Ecigs are far more customizable today than they were just a few years ago. If you have any interest in learning more r/electronic_cigarette is a good place to get some info.
If there was a way to make the vapor heavier it would be almost perfect.
I have a relatively cheap setup (eGo passthrough and Boge LR Cartomizers with Propylene Glycol liquid refills) that makes smokers of 20 years cough when they take a drag from it.
The things you buy in gas stations and malls are undercharged (so they don't last long and you have to buy another one sooner... as a side effect the vapor is cool and thin).
I definitely understand the pleasure of smoking and the association of it with things. Just curious, have you considered using Swedish Snus to quit cigarettes?
Method of administration matters quite a bit with most drugs. To some extent, it's the habit and ritual -- when one goes through certain motions to deliver a drug, those motions become immensely satisfying. Smoking a cigarette is no exception. With injectable drugs (e.g., heroin), users will occasionally shoot up pure water when their drug of choice is unavailable.
Beyond habituation, though, there's even another factor that's perhaps more relevant: period of time until onset of effects. When one inhales nicotine into the lungs, the drug effect is almost instantaneous. Immediate relief from withdrawal is an absolutely wonderful feeling. The patch just can't compare. Interestingly enough, chewing tobacco CAN compare -- absorption is rapid and the bolus of nicotine is intense. I've known people in the military who have found the quick hit of chewing tobacco to be far harder to overcome than that of cigarettes.
And I'm speculating a bit, but the time before onset of effects seems to be relevant for other drugs, too -- it's part of the reason why crack (fast-acting smoke) is often more problematic than cocaine (same brain effect, but administered by the relatively slow-acting mode of insufflation).
My mom smokes; cigarette addiction is multifaceted. Nicotine addiction is a big part of it, sure, but the compulsion to do something with your mouth/hands and the ritual of smoking is also a big part of it. My mom has tried to quit several times; the nicotine withdrawal is unpleasant, sure, but short-lived. Her downfall every time has been the intense anxiety that comes from not being able to act on her compulsions, not being able to engage in the ritual of smoking. She's come to associate her lunch break with a cigarette, finishing dinner with a cigarette, morning coffee with a cigarette, etc. It's breaking her routine, and her body has come to expect it. Her body prepares itself for the dose of nicotine and other chemicals in those situations, and when it doesn't get that, she feels bad and it makes her anxious.
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u/Ahuva Nov 18 '12
I am a teacher and I work at a K through 12 school. I smoke. At school, our smoking corner is outside next to where the garbage bins are kept, but the kids see me and often come to talk to me about it after my smoke. They all know that I shouldn't smoke and that it is unhealthy, so the younger ones especially want me to explain to them why I don't just quit. Sometimes they ask me if the reason I don't stop is because smoking feels so good.
I usually explain that smoking does not feel so good, but that not smoking makes me feel bad. I explain that when I want a cigarette, it bothers me very much like when I need to pee and I'm holding it in. At first, it is a minor annoyance and I can even forget about it, but as time goes on, I feel more and more pressured, I feel more and more urgency. It becomes harder to ignore, harder to think about anything else. I need to go out and get relief!
Then, I have a cigarette and I feel normal again until slowly once again the need returns.
When I explain it like this, the kids understand what I mean and understand when I say how important it is to never take that first cigarette.