About being addicted to smoking
Nicotine addiction, which is a part of smoking addiction, contains many parts. The more one knows about these parts and how they work, the higher the likelihood of quitting smoking. This is a list of the things that make smoking addictive.
THE SOCIAL PART
In some ways, smoking is a habit that people learn from each other. Socialisation is the propensity to replicate behavioural patterns observed in others within society. One of the main ways that kids and teens learn how to interact with other people is through socialisation. Through socialisation, kids and teens learn how to live and function in society. Sadly, undesirable habits and ways of thinking are also learnt in the same way.
If you live or work with other people who smoke, you will probably start smoking as well. If someone tries to leave their social group, they will feel anxious since they won't be accepted by the group they are a member of.
If the other people also try to scare or freeze out someone who is trying to break this terrible social norm, it will be extremely harder for that person to stop the habit. The threatening activities may not even be that serious to scare someone into breaking a socially acceptable habit, and they may not even be designed as a threat.
THE NEED TO SUCK AND CHEW
Everyone needs to suck and chew. This urge is important while babies are very young, but it also lasts into adulthood to some extent. Some individuals utilise cigarettes or alternative smoking apparatuses, along with the resultant smoke, to fulfil this necessity. Some people may have a stronger need than others because this need, or another related basic need, was not completely met when they were babies.
If you wish to quit smoking, you can try to meet this urge in other ways. For example, you could always carry something in your pocket that you can chew on when you want to smoke.
REPEATING ON ITS OWN
When someone does something a lot and often enough, they will start to do it automatically over and over again. This is especially true if the activity is done in a situation that is easy to identify.
The pattern of automatic repetition also makes people feel safer in their everyday lives and routines.
This kind of mechanical repetition is always a part of the smoking habit. If you wish to stop smoking, you should look at the situations and places where you generally smoke.
Then, attempt to stay away from the places or situations where you used to smoke, or change them on purpose.
NICOTINE AS A SELF-MEDICATION
Nicotine calms down feelings of anxiety. It also has some anti-depressant effects, at least in the short term, and it helps a person feel more awake. Someone who is anxious or depressed may think that smoking helps with their mental symptoms.
But with time, the body will need more and higher amounts of nicotine to have these pleasant effects. If there isn't enough nicotine in the body, the nervous or depressed feelings will be worse than before.
This pleasure, together with the need for increasing amounts to attain the beneficial benefits, is a big reason why people smoke. Think about whether the calming or anti-depressive effect is why you smoke. Then you should look for other approaches to get the same result. Doing some sports or spending time outside can often help you feel less sad. If the emotions of depression are worse, you may need some kind of treatment.
THE PLEASURE PART
There is a simple and direct pleasure that comes from smoking. This enjoyment is a positive thing in and of itself. This beneficial effect is probably too little in most circumstances compared to the bad effects of smoking, yet it will make a person want to keep smoking. But this pleasant effect will also become harder to get without raising the doses.
If you smoke because you enjoy it, you should look for alternative ways to enjoy yourself, like nice food, good music, or sexual activity.
THE GENETIC PART
Not all individuals exhibit the same susceptibility to nicotine dependence. There are still things we don't fully understand that make certain people more likely to get hooked than others. Some individuals may possess receptors on their nerve cells that are more readily activated by nicotine, or they may have a greater number of receptors capable of being triggered by nicotine, a trait potentially inherited through genetic coding.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEMS THAT MAKE ADDICTION WORK
There are both calming and energising chemicals in the normal brain that affect nerve cells. Nicotine, like most drugs, works like a signal by fitting onto receptors on some brain cells.
Nicotine binds to certain receptors, thereby signalling the nerve cell that possesses these receptors. When nicotine sends a signal to cells, they respond by releasing another signal material called dopamine, which affects other cells. Dopamine calms certain brain cells and excites others. The overall result of this is the pleasurable benefits of smoking.
But when nicotine consistently causes dopamine to be released, the brain will slowly stop making dopamine when nicotine isn't there. This will make the brain seem like it needs more and more nicotine to perform properly and feel good.
