Stress + stress + stress = smoking :(

[digitalwanderer]

Use that honey herbal tobacco if you absolutely must use tobacco with pot

What is honey herbal tobacco?

 

[KimB]

It's simple: you are addicted to nicotene only . Smoking is just the medium by which to take it. Patches are too: hence, why they don't help in the long run.

I'm not sure this is true. Nicotene patches help you to combat one problem at a time: first the habit of picking up the cigarette, then the nicotene itself. And the patches also tend to make you a bit sick, so you gladly get rid of them after a few weeks (it's at this point, though, that you need real strength of will in not going straight back to cigarettes...the hope is that it becomes a bit easier after not having used them for a few weeks).

It's the nicotene gum that I have serious doubts about, as you're simply exchanging one habit of ingesting nicotene for another.

 

[deviantchild]

I'm not sure this is true. Nicotene patches help you to combat one problem at a time: first the habit of picking up the cigarette*, then the nicotene itself. And the patches also tend to make you a bit sick, so you gladly get rid of them after a few weeks (it's at this point, though, that you need real strength of will in not going straight back to cigarettes...the hope is that it becomes a bit easier after not having used them for a few weeks).

It's the nicotene gum that I have serious doubts about, as you're simply exchanging one habit of ingesting nicotene for another.

*EasyWay tries to dispell the myth of 'habit' too; with stuff similar to "If you think it's partly an oral habit of putting the thing to your mouth then why do you want to light it? If you think it's partly a habit of having something to do with your hands then, again, why bother to light it and not just hold it there instead?"
He also goes to great lengths to show the disassociate this way from what he calls 'the willpower method' which seems to be, more often than not, doomed to failure.
The only way seems to be to have no nicotene. The pang is for nicotene, to try to keep it in the system one way or another.
I, of all people, could never invisage a life without ever wanting a cigarette again, and not by some weird aversion phsycho-aversion therapy or anything.
It's hard to tell people to just check the book out without giving the impression that you have been brainwashed or something - if you somoked like I did then it would seem like somewhat of a revelation worth promoting.
Hell, some of the guy's methods of trying to get through to stallwarts are a bit ropey and cringeworthy but, as I say, the gist is right, and so simple.
It's basically a book, written by an ex heavy smoker after everything had failed. It covers just about everything about smoking, from a smokers point of view and is just an interesting read.

I do have a couple of complaints:
1) His whole campaign looks very cheesey, like American style shopping channel imagery, which is offputting for people like me with an aversion to those sorts of things.
2) There are times in the book that you might disagree with something he suggests and it will nag at you, only to be readdressed from an alternative (possibly your) angle much later on. I would think that some people might give up on the book a some point inbetween, writing it off a 'flawed' before reaching that point.

 

[Crusher]

Why do people use addictive substances as stress relievers? The addiction just adds more stress.

 

[KimB]

*EasyWay tries to dispell the myth of 'habit' too; with stuff similar to "If you think it's partly an oral habit of putting the thing to your mouth then why do you want to light it? If you think it's partly a habit of having something to do with your hands then, again, why bother to light it and not just hold it there instead?"

Humans are rather complex creatures, and habits aren't simple, singular tactile feelings.

For example, have you ever been driving in a route similar to the route you take to work, with the intent on going somewhere else, and found yourself instead going to work? Habits can be very complex things, and it really has to do with the conscious part of your brain shutting down, turning you into what is essentially an unthinking machine.

I claim that this is most likely the number one reason for the success of this author's method: by using reasoning, you are directly engaging the thought process, which in turn makes it easier to avoid the habit.

We all have habits of many kinds. To claim that smoking is just an addiction and not also a habit is rather ludicrous. People tend to use certain specific stimuli as an excuse to smoke, such as stress or social occasions. These are the hallmarks of a habit: a programmed response to a specific stimulus. The response really doesn't have to actually deal with the stimulus in question. The smoker just needs to think it does.

This is why it can be helpful to substitute another habit in the place of smoking, such as chewing gum. It's a technique that is designed to slowly replace one programmed response with another. It clearly won't help with the addiction, but it does help with the habit.

There's a reason why the nicotene patches have worked completely for many people. It makes quitting easier because it breaks it up into two steps, the addiction and the habit. But just breaking the addiction is also very challenging for people, and as such many still fail.

 

[deviantchild]

Why do people use addictive substances as stress relievers? The addiction just adds more stress.

The inability to cope is often caused by not having fed your addiction - feeding the addiction temporarily relieves the chaos caused by the craving and then feels like you are coping once more. That's how addictions operate.

BTW, for some insight into Allan Carr's angle on smoking go through the Flash 'free intro' presentation on the site http://www.allencarrseasyway.com/

 

[deviantchild]

Humans are rather complex creatures, and habits aren't simple, singular tactile feelings.

For example, have you ever been driving in a route similar to the route you take to work, with the intent on going somewhere else, and found yourself instead going to work? Habits can be very complex things, and it really has to do with the conscious part of your brain shutting down, turning you into what is essentially an unthinking machine.

I claim that this is most likely the number one reason for the success of this author's method: by using reasoning, you are directly engaging the thought process, which in turn makes it easier to avoid the habit.

We all have habits of many kinds. To claim that smoking is just an addiction and not also a habit is rather ludicrous. People tend to use certain specific stimuli as an excuse to smoke, such as stress or social occasions. These are the hallmarks of a habit: a programmed response to a specific stimulus. The response really doesn't have to actually deal with the stimulus in question. The smoker just needs to think it does.

This is why it can be helpful to substitute another habit in the place of smoking, such as chewing gum. It's a technique that is designed to slowly replace one programmed response with another. It clearly won't help with the addiction, but it does help with the habit.

There's a reason why the nicotene patches have worked completely for many people. It makes quitting easier because it breaks it up into two steps, the addiction and the habit. But just breaking the addiction is also very challenging for people, and as such many still fail.

But I found I didn't need to deal with any habit at all. I was dealing with the addiction and the concept of habit just didn't exist anymore. There were always the feelings of unfulfillment/unease - running through all reocurrring or pattern behaviour, which I had always put down to being habitual myself. Concentrating on the one common factor and dealing with it as an entity in itself, the individual situations weren't relevent anymore, moreover just a distraction that would have clouded the root cause.

 

[_xxx_]

deviantchild:
The point is, first you must really want to quit. In my case, I don't. I like smoking. That's why it's a problem for me to reduce/stop.

 

[KimB]

deviantchild:
The point is, first you must really want to quit. In my case, I don't. I like smoking. That's why it's a problem for me to reduce/stop.

Yeah, that's really the problem, isn't it? Well, hell, give it a few more years and smoking will really take a toll on your lungs. You may not notice it (gradual changes just aren't noticed), but try quitting in five or ten years, and you may notice a dramatic difference in how you feel. That may be enough.

I mean, I understand enjoying smoking. But it will kill you, so it would probably be a good thing to attempt to give yourself incentive to quit. There are, after all, other things you enjoy doing, I am certain. Smoking can't be the hub of your life.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

That's the problem with smoking - you feel okay for ten or twenty years. Then all the problems like lung/throat/mouth cancer, heart problems, artery constriction, circulation problems, leg amputation, etc start to rear their heads. And then it kills you.

Look up "nicotine" in the standard medical drug manuals, and it has pages and pages of nasty side effects and things it will do to trash your health while you pay for the privilige.

 

[KimB]

That's the problem with smoking - you feel okay for ten or twenty years.

Well, not entirely. You may not realize what it's doing to your body until you stop. I'll take my Mom as an example again. She smoked quite frequently from college onward. About 20-25 years later, she quit (note that she quit during pregnancy). She never noticed how sick she felt as a smoker until she stopped. Once she had stopped, she realized that she no longer had frequent coughs, had much greater endurance, and overall just felt better. She was still some way away from having any major diseases of the lung or throat, but the difference was obvious.

Of course, she had the added benefit that she never felt the compulsion to smoke except when in the presence of other smokers, and being around smokers is something she has been able to avoid quite effectively. Seven years on, there is effectively zero chance she will ever decide to smoke again.

 

[Rys]

I don't understand the "I can't stop" part of people trying to quit. Yes, you absolutely can.

I know more than one person that just stopped (although most times it takes a doctor to say it'll kill you if you don't), no questions, they just got it done and that was that. It's not easy, but Christ, just have some willpower and balls and do it.

It's not good for you, it never ever will be, and it's just plain disgusting anyway. There are a million and one better stress relievers, too.

Digi, just fucking stop it right now, you total asshat. If you need to relieve stress, you can do it in better ways than lighting up, and you know it.

 

[_xxx_]

Yeah, that's really the problem, isn't it? Well, hell, give it a few more years and smoking will really take a toll on your lungs. You may not notice it (gradual changes just aren't noticed), but try quitting in five or ten years, and you may notice a dramatic difference in how you feel. That may be enough.

I _do_ notice it already and am still reluctant...

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I don't understand the "I can't stop" part of people trying to quit. Yes, you absolutely can.

I know more than one person that just stopped (although most times it takes a doctor to say it'll kill you if you don't), no questions, they just got it done and that was that. It's not easy, but Christ, just have some willpower and balls and do it.

That's what happened to my Dad. Smoked for twenty years, and then was told he'd probably have a heart attack and die within the year if he didn't stop. Took him less than a week to give up and hasn't smoked since then, some fifty years.

However, some people just can't do it. They can't overcome the habit, or the physical addiction, and they smoke themselves into an early grave. They just don't have the willpower, and they (and their families) suffer for it.

 

[_xxx_]

However, some people just can't do it. They can't overcome the habit, or the physical addiction, and they smoke themselves into an early grave. They just don't have the willpower, and they (and their families) suffer for it.

There are also many moments when you feel so bad (for whatever personal reason) that you just don't care. Though I'm not sure if that's the reason or a consequence of addiction.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I don't understand the "I can't stop" part of people trying to quit. Yes, you absolutely can.

I know more than one person that just stopped (although most times it takes a doctor to say it'll kill you if you don't), no questions, they just got it done and that was that. It's not easy, but Christ, just have some willpower and balls and do it.

It's not good for you, it never ever will be, and it's just plain disgusting anyway. There are a million and one better stress relievers, too.

Digi, just fucking stop it right now, you total asshat. If you need to relieve stress, you can do it in better ways than lighting up, and you know it.

Yeah, you're right. I think the bit that pisses me off most with my smoking is that I'm letting me and everyone else I care about down, and I know it's just because I'm weak!

You have no clue how pissed I get at myself for weaknesses like that, I really do...it's about the only force/will I got that is strong enough to help me quit.

Ok, I'll quit. I got about a half a pack left that I'll finish off and then I'll be done. If I slip again please remind me that I'm a spineless weakling with no self-control and it should piss me off enough to quit again.

Thank you everyone, sincerely. You have no clue how hard it is for me to even bring this up publically nor how important I feel it is, and I really ain't got no better friends I'd rather have to kick my ass back in line.

 

[Sxotty]

I have a good friend of many years and he is on that stupid smoke 3 months, quit for 3 months and so on, I can tell you it makes him miserable.

 

[deviantchild]

Digi, and everyone else who is currently in conversation here, you really should try to pick up that book, even just for the insight. All the recent comments/attitudes in this thread are dealt with in it, even the "I like smoking" one. It's very revealing and you may discover some things about yourself, but the best bit is, it's entirely from the point of view of the smoker - how only they know the way things truly are for them. Unfortunately there is some instruction in there which I found it best to ignore and keep reading as though I was just an observer. After all, I didn't buy the book myself or necessarily intend to stop at that time (although I had wanted to for some years) it just fell into my possession.
I will emphasise one thing once again though. That is, those awful feelings you get when you try to use willpower to cut down or quit - the hankering that, in some people, may never leave them although they have stopped long ago - that doesn't occur with this method. Hence why I guess a lot of people like me who have succeeded using EasyWay sound like ******s afterwards - but, fuck me! if you've ever tried to quit before, you know just how miserable that never-ending war of temptation feels and it isn't nice feeling that you're doomed for an eternity of misery whether with them or without them.
So, yeah, this was pretty much a revelatory thing for me, and worth shouting about.

ps. I will never come down on smokers for smoking - I was one, and I still hate people who come across all holier-than-thou and telling us shit we already know, especially if they've never been there - smoking ain't a rational activity, 'k!? so it'll only make us do one of two things (or even both): hate ourselves or hate you - so, zip it up people!

 

[KimB]

I _do_ notice it already and am still reluctant...

Well, then, it's clear to me that what you are sensing is simply the addiction.

Of course you're going to like smoking. That's what addiction is all about: it makes you feel that you need the substance to feel good. This is, of course, a blatant lie.

To combat this, you really need to combat the lie. Smoking doesn't make you feel better. It just feeds the addiction. If you stop smoking, you will get more out of life. You will have to really convince yourself that without cigarettes, you'll more easily be able to perform physical activities (from work around the house to leisure activities), you'll feel more healthy, and all around should have more fun.

There is, of course, the added little benefit of living longer if you stop smoking, but immediate incentives are pretty much always much more powerful.

 

[Guden Oden]

Ok, I'll quit. I got about a half a pack left that I'll finish off and then I'll be done.

Don't do that. Don't say "oh I'll just finish off these cigs/cookies/whatever and THEN I'll quit". If you're gonna quit then friggin quit. Tear up the shit you got left and toss it in the trash.

If I slip again please remind me that I'm a spineless weakling with no self-control and it should piss me off enough to quit again.

Why would you slip unless you consciously decide to slip? It's not as if you'll reach out in your sleep, and there'll be a pack of cigarettes in your hand when you wake up.

You have to go into a store and say, "gimme some smokes" for it to happen. Or, you could ask another smoker "could I bum a fag?", though you should only try that in the UK or else people might misinterpret your intentions. (Might work in Oz/NZ too, I dunno.)



And XXX... So you like to smoke. Do you like lung cancer also? Just realize that you're wrecking yourself for what is essentially a useless habit that doesn't give you shit in return, you just think it does because of the abstinence issues it causes. Quit now while you still have at least part of your health intact, you can't regrow the bits of your lungs you've wrecked, but at least you won't make it any worse.