People think that to give up smoking, all they have to do is to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are many of products out there, many over the counter, that provide an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.
In this article, we shall look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.
The Nicotine Style of Smoking
Back the 1990’s, nicotine got labeled as a highly addictive substance. It had been blamed for the reason why people think it is hard to quit smoking. Yet, cigarette smoking does not fit the definition of a chemical addiction.
In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps an individual smoking. It followed that if nicotine could be provided from the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. paras nikotiinipussi Thus, the person would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the brand new source of nicotine could possibly be gradually reduced as time passes before smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.
This would be a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the true driving force to smoke cigarettes. However, if there is various other reason people smoke, like the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never be an effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.
The Research
Two products that follow the chemical addiction model of cigarette smoking are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do precisely what they say; they give a very ample supply of nicotine. Because the smoker is getting generous amounts of nicotine, that they are supposedly craving, the patches ought to be incredibly effective and take away the desire to have a cigarette. But how effective are they?
Some research shows, (Davidson, M., Epstein, M., Burt, R., Schaefer, C., Whitworth, G. & McDonald, A. (1998)), only 19% of people on nicotine patches had stopped smoking at six weeks and it was reduced to 9.2% at half a year. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of individuals using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of those that had stopped were back at it again.
The outcomes for the gum was a comparable. Even though the gum was providing the smoker with a lot of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of the people were still smoking and at 6 months, 92% were smoking.
The study showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had stop smoking utilizing the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to give up smoking! In other words, they were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A Real Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he explained he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to quit also it had taken him two years until he was finally from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Consider that for a moment. The nicotine gum was providing a large supply of nicotine just as it is designed to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. In other words, the gum, loaded with nicotine had not been substituting for the cigarette as it theoretical must have done.
Since the man wished to quit, he finally stopped after 2 yrs. Nonetheless it wasn’t the gum, it had been him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Similar to the 8% – 9% of individuals in the study study mentioned above.
Nicotine isn’t the Motivator to Smoke
How much nicotine a smoker gets in a single cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to your system mass; it’s tiny and so is the level of nicotine it contains.
However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum contain nicotine. That’s what they are made to do; put adequate nicotine in to the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the necessity to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they are getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?
Based on the American Lung Association, unwanted effects with the nicotine patch are:
Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on the skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine has an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the things that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. This is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you go by the nicotine model to give up smoking, you are going to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of proven, psychological techniques. When the mechanism is gone, so is smoking.
� Copyright 2010, R. Michael Stone
R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor
33 years experience with subconscious communication and subconscious programming techniques.
Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System? – The program that provides you the powerful psychological tools essential to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program can help you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program will let you permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.