Revealed - The real reason you can't stop smoking!
Despite the decades of scientific and medical research proving
beyond doubt the deadly effects of cigarette smoking, the number
of existing smokers, and people taking up smoking, is still at
incredulous levels.
The chilling statistics reveal:-
* 1 in 5 deaths in the US is attributed to smoking
* 440, 000 deaths, potentially 6 million years of potential
life lost per year
* Smoking during pregnancy results in 1,000 infant deaths per
year.
(Source http://www.med.upenn.edu/tturc/pdf/USA_Figures.pdf)
Most people when asked are at a loss to explain why anyone
would continue to smoke, or take up smoking considering the high
smoking related death rate; however it is important to
understand that the reason is on more of a subconscious, rather
than a conscious level.
The real reasons have to do with a mechanism that drives our
behavior called the pleasure and pain mechanism. This mechanism
is designed to drive us towards things that are pleasurable and
safe, and drive us away from things that are painful and
potentially harmful or dangerous. The mechanism for the most
part is developed within the subconscious mind as the result of
the input (either pleasure or pain) we receive from our
experience of any behavior or activity. At times the
pleasure/pain mechanism has more than one input however, in
which case it is usually the input that is either the strongest
or the most immediate that moulds our behavior with respect to
the activity in question. The problem with this mechanism where
smoking is concerned is twofold:-
1. A delay of years before the negative effects are experienced
which renders this delayed feedback ineffective as it becomes a
purely conscious input.
2. Smoking does have elements of pleasure in the short term
(such as a relaxing effect of the deep breathing, and is still
seen as a somewhat cool thing to do by some young people because
of its rebellious connotations). Being a short term feedback,
this pleasure feedback is what a smoker responds too.
Imagine for a moment if instead of the current situation with
smoking, if everyone who took up smoking and smoked for only a
week died as a result of the usual smoking related illnesses,
how many people do you think would take up smoking given this
scenario? I would suggest it would be as close to zero as you
could get.
While there is currently a delay of years before the real pain
resulting from smoking is felt, I believe the time is almost at
hand where this will change although not in the way that you
might think. The enormous cost to the healthcare system for self
inflicted and preventable health problems such as those
resulting from smoking, will mean a change to the responsibility
for these healthcare costs within the next few years, such as:
* Smokers will be forced to pay excessive health insurance
premiums compared to non-smokers
* Countries with free or subsidized healthcare will withdraw
this support for preventable health problems such as smoking,
forcing smokers to pay high private insurance costs or be left
without access to healthcare.
* Also, governments may impose even higher taxes on tobacco
products making the price of cigarettes even more
prohibitive.
These measures may provide enough short term pain to encourage
some smokers to quit, however they are a little way off just
yet.
So what's the solution?
There is no magic bullet when it comes to any habit including
smoking; however understanding the mechanism of the habit is a
starting point. What smokers need to understand is that any
habit such as smoking, is a program or list of instructions that
have been placed in the subconscious mind through repetition
that respond similar to a computer program. Like a computer
program the instructions in your habit program are activated by
certain actions or triggers. The triggers can be inputs such as
stress, a time trigger such as every 30 minutes, or perhaps
after a meal. You don't have to "think" about lighting up
because your subconscious mind is programmed to respond to the
triggers.
Tips
The relaxing effect of smoking can be attributed to the deep
breathing when drawing in the smoke, so when you feel like a
cigarette in response to one of your triggers, use your
imagination instead and visualize a cigarette in your mouth,
then take slow deep breathes instead of reaching for a real
cigarette. The more times you do this the more you will override
your smoking program and replace it with the new deep breathing
habit instead. If you want to install a subconscious pain
response to help quit smoking then try this. Find a quiet place
where you can be alone:
1. Imagine you're in your 40's or 50's and the doctor is telling
you that you only have a couple of months to live, imagine the
fear that would run through your body at that moment.
2. Imagine you're on your death bed saying goodbye to your
loved ones, children or partner. How would that feel inside?
3. Imagine your cigarette packet has an LCD screen on it. Every
time you open the pack the screen lights up with a live feed
from the future of your children or partner at your funeral
grieving for you and wanting to know why you had to die so
young.
Are these scenarios completely fictitious? The future video feed
may be but as for the dying younger than you should, sadly that
is a mathematical certainty. While we've all heard of smokers
who have lived to an old age, these people are rare exceptions
of perhaps 1 person in 1000 or more. I'd hate to bet my life
savings at those odds let alone my life, how about you?
If you're serious about saving your life and kicking the smoking
habit, then try the visualization techniques above every day to
program it into your subconscious. You can also think of all the
money you'll save by quitting. Alternatively you can look for a
good quit smoking program, but ensure that the one you choose
addresses the problems of the underlying subconscious
programming of the habit. The money you spend on a good program
will be trivial compared to the money you'll save on cigarettes
and is a small price to pay for your life. With regards to
smoking, only one person can save your life, and that person is
YOU.