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, without paying attention to the damage done to their own health?
Where does smoking addiction come from?
prolonged stress
A long chain of stressful situations can upset even the most calm and balanced person. At this point, instead of looking at the situation from a different angle or distracting them with some activity, many start looking for a quick way to calm down and relax. And it's often 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 able to correctly assess the situation. The most interesting thing is that it really helps him. But not because smoking cigarettes is supposed to "calm", but because he firmly inspired this idea in himself.
fashion influence
As unfortunate as it may sound, fashion trends often make people make mistakes. So, for example, the publication of a photo shoot in the glossy magazine with the participation of a model smoking in the frame can become yet another outbreak in smoking fashion. Also, these fashion trends are spreading very quickly. Literally the day after the magazine's launch, it will be possible to observe how many teenagers and girls who have not smoked tobacco yet, imitating the famous model.
transition age
Replenishment of the ranks of smokers at the expense of high school students and students may occur not just because of a new round of fashion. Among the common reasons why teenagers start smoking, the following are also popular:
- The need for peer recognition 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 of the 80s. They had a very characteristic pattern of behavior: they smoked cigarettes, ridiculed society's vices in their music, drank a lot of alcohol and behaved, to say the least, defiant.
nicotine addiction
The dependence of cigarette smokers can be of 2 types: physical and psychological. At the heart of physical dependence is the body's dependence on nicotine. Psychological addiction is based on a person's clear belief that smoking relaxes, calms, helps focus faster, etc. The difference between these types is that psychological addiction is often the reason why smokers start using tobacco, while physical addiction becomes its consequence - the main problem people smoke and cannot kick this bad habit.
How to stop smoking?
Once you find out why people smoke, it's much easier to start the process of kicking the habit. However, you need to prepare for such a step on the moral side. It is necessary to at least briefly familiarize yourself with the medical literature and deeply understand the harm that smoking brings to health, in addition to calculating how much money is spent on cigarettes per year. After that, put all your will into fist and stop smoking.
give up once and for all
Most ex-smokers are advised not to "reinvent the wheel" but to quit smoking abruptly and once and for all. Having chosen this path, in no case should one succumb to weakness and think that a cigarette (or more) a day will not change anything (justifying itself by the fact that it is still less than it was). Once the decision is made, there is no going back!
play gradually
A similar method is suitable for those who have a clear addiction to nicotine. To stop smoking, they need to gradually reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke per day. For example, if a person smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, you should try to reduce the number of cigarettes by at least one piece a day. When it comes to 2-3 cigarettes a day, you can stop smoking abruptly.
Lead a healthy lifestyle
Psychologists have found that smokers who start to eat right and play sports eventually get rid of this negative habit. How does this happen? The secret, once again, is in self-hypnosis. A person's psychology is such that when he starts eating healthy foods and exercising, he involuntarily refuses unhealthy foods and other obstacles that prevent him from leading a new, healthier lifestyle.
Also, 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 come to the decision to stop smoking.
In addition, the following recommendations can be of great help in the fight against addiction:
- Listen to audio files and read books about the dangers of smoking.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Replacing regular cigarettes with electronics, which later turns out to be much easier for some than regular ones.
- Also, when you really want to smoke, you can try replacing cigarettes with something sweet or seeds. Or grab a cigarette and, without smoking, imitate the smoking process for 10-15 minutes.
- Refusal to visit places where smoking is allowed (smoking areas and club lounges, restaurants, etc. ).
- An agreement with acquaintances that they do not smoke during communication.
- Place affirmations on the walls of the house (words and images that carry the meaning of the desired) on the theme of a healthy lifestyle. For example, pictures of beautiful and healthy people and pictures of smokers that are disgusting. This helps to fix in the subconscious mind the right kind of behavior in the fight against smoking.