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Post by judyb on Jul 14, 2011 4:43:43 GMT -5
Why is quitting smoking so difficult?
You have probably quit smoking (or using tobacco in another form) before, and you have probably gone back to the habit. Whether your "smobriety" (to use a term from the addiction recovery program Nicotine Anonymous) lasted an hour or a year, you no doubt learned a basic truth: breaking away from tobacco products can be, at best, unpleasant, and at worst, a living hell. And the memory of that unpleasant experience may have left you with a fear of trying again.
Understanding the source of your physical and emotion reactions can help get you through those difficult early days. Quitting smoking will be one of the hardest things that you will ever do. This is because smoking is actually a three-fold problem: you have developed psychological, social, and physical needs for the drug nicotine.
As a smoker, all your emotions were medicated with a nicotine packed cigarette: you relaxed with nicotine; you laughed with nicotine, wept with nicotine, digested with nicotine. You used smoking to pass the time, ready yourself for a crisis, calm yourself after one, even (ironically) to catch your breath during a difficult task. You began your day by dosing with nicotine, your drug of choice (perhaps one among others), and ended it the same way. No wonder that, suddenly deprived of all that, your mind and body go wonky for a little while.
from alt.support.stop-smoking
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