People think that to give up smoking, all they have to do would be to replace the nicotine provided by the cigarette. There are a number of products available, many non-prescription, that give an ample supply of replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue steadily to smoke is because of the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.
In this article, we will look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.
The Nicotine Model of Smoking
Back in the 1990’s, nicotine got called 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 when nicotine could be provided from the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the source of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the brand new source of nicotine could possibly be gradually reduced as time passes until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.
This would be considered a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the true driving force to smoke cigars. However, when there is some other reason people smoke, such as the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never be a highly effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.
The Research
Two products that follow the chemical addiction model of using tobacco are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They’re superb products and do just what they say; they give a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and remove 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 also it was reduced to 9.2% at six months. Considering it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of individuals using nicotine patches were still smoking and at six months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.
The outcomes for the gum was a comparable. Despite the fact that the gum was providing the smoker with plenty of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of the people were still smoking and at 6 months, 92% were smoking.
The research showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had stop smoking using the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to quit smoking! Put simply, these 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 had used nicotine gum to quit also it had taken him 2 yrs until he was finally off of cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Think about that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a big supply of nicotine just as it is designed to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Basically, the gum, loaded with nicotine was not substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical should have done.
Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after 2 yrs. But 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 the people in the research study mentioned above.
Nicotine is Not the Motivator to Smoke
The amount of nicotine a smoker gets in a single cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to your system mass; it’s tiny therefore is the level of nicotine it contains.
However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum contain nicotine. That’s what they’re made to do; put adequate nicotine in to the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have adverse reactions to these products because they’re getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?
In line with the American Lung Association, side 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 does have an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the current items that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine isn’t the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you go by the nicotine model to quit smoking, you are likely to be disappointed. parhaat nikotiinipussit The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism by using proven, psychological techniques. Once 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? – This program that provides you the powerful psychological tools necessary 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 help you permanently remove cigarettes from your life.