Since childhood we have been told about the terrible dangers of smoking, confirming this with medical research and facts from the lives of smokers. But why do people smoke, not paying attention to the damage done to their health?
Where does smoking addiction come from?
Prolonged stress
A long chain of stressful situations can disturb even the most calm and balanced person. At this point, instead of looking at the situation from another angle or distracting from it with some activity, many people start looking for a quick way to calm down and relax. And very often it is smoking.
Having found such a quick way to get moral satisfaction, every time during the next dispute with someone or just a serious conversation, a person lights up another cigarette, believing that this will calm his nerves and be inable to correctly assess the situation. The most interesting thing is that it really helps him. But not because smoking cigarettes supposedly "calms", but because he firmly inspired this idea in himself.
influence of fashion
As unfortunate as it may sound, fashion trends often lead people to make mistakes. So, for example, the publication of a photo shoot in a glossy magazine with the participation of a smoking model in the frame can become another increase in smoking fashion. Moreover, such fashion trends are spreading very quickly. Literally the next day after the publication of the magazine, it will be possible to observe how many teenage girls and girls who have never used tobacco before, imitating the famous fashion model.
Transitional age
Replenishment of the ranks of smokers at the expense of high school students and students can happen not only because of a new round of fashion. Among the common reasons why teenagers start smoking, these are also known:
- The need for recognition from peers and the desire to be like everyone else. Teenagers' fear of becoming a black sheep is sometimes so great that they are capable of many stupid things, including smoking.
- The desire, on the contrary, to stand out from the crowd.
- Protest. Sometimes young people start smoking in protest, opposing society and trying to show everyone their independence and independence. Think rockers from the 80s. They had a very characteristic behavior pattern: they smoked cigarettes, mocked the vices of society in their songs, drank a lot of alcohol and behaved, to put it mildly, defiantly.
Nicotine addiction
The addiction of smokers to cigarettes can be of 2 types: physical and psychological. At the heart of physical addiction is the body's addiction to nicotine. Psychological addiction is based on a person's clear belief that smoking relaxes, calms, helps to concentrate faster, etc. The difference between these types is that psychological dependence is often the reason why smokers start using tobacco, while physical dependence becomes its consequence - the main problem that people smoke and cannot quit this bad habit.
How to quit smoking?
Once you understand why people smoke, it's much easier to begin the process of quitting. However, you need to prepare for such a step morally. It is necessary to at least briefly familiarize yourself with the medical literature and deeply understand the harm that smoking brings to health, as well as calculate how much money is spent on the purchase of cigarettes annually. After that, take all your willpower into a fist and stop smoking.
Give it up once and for all
Most ex-smokers are advised not to "reinvent the wheel", but to quit smoking suddenly and immediately - once and for all. Having chosen this path, in no case should you succumb to weakness and think that one cigarette (or more) a day will not change anything (justifying yourself with the fact that it is still less than it was). Once the decision is made, there is no going back!
Drop in gradually
A similar method is suitable for those who have a clear addiction to nicotine. To quit smoking, they must gradually reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke per day. For example, if a person smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, then you should try to reduce the number of cigarettes by at least one pack every day. When it comes to 2-3 cigarettes a day, you can suddenly quit smoking.
Lead a healthy lifestyle
Psychologists have found that smokers who start eating right and playing sports eventually kick this negative habit. How does this happen? The secret, again, lies in self-hypnosis. A person's psychology is such that when he starts eating healthy food and exercising, he involuntarily rejects unhealthy foods and other obstacles that prevent him from leading a new, healthier lifestyle.
In addition, when doing a lot of recreational exercise, the smoker will notice shortness of breath. Swimming and running are particularly illustrative examples in this regard. After unsuccessful attempts to combine smoking and exercise, a person is likely to make the decision to quit smoking.
Also, the following recommendations can be of great help in the fight against addiction:
- Listening to audio files and reading books about the dangers of smoking.
- Drinking enough water.
- Replacing regular cigarettes with electronic ones, which later turns out to be much easier for some than regular ones.
- Also, when you really want to smoke, you can try replacing the cigarette with something sweet or seeds. Or take a cigarette and, without smoking, imitate the process of smoking for 10-15 minutes.
- Refusal to visit places where smoking is allowed (smoking areas and lounges in night clubs, restaurants, etc. ).
- An agreement with acquaintances who do not smoke during communication.
- Placing affirmations on the walls of the house (words and pictures that carry the meaning of the desire) on the topic of a healthy lifestyle. For example, pictures of healthy beautiful people and pictures of smokers that cause disgust. This helps to regulate in the subconscious mind the right kind of behavior in the fight against smoking.