Why Do People Smoke | Why People Smoke

typically, no matter what the answers, the reasons people smoke can be categorized as habits or addictions.  Yes, those are different – whether they be physical (tactile) habits, emotional habits, chemical addictions, and/or psychological in nature.  Let’s take a look at some common answers to why people smoke when they know its bad for them, then let’s see if we can’t shake up our own behavior.

I’m just bored.

It seems like I’ve always done it.

It’s how I handle stress.

I’m scared to quit.

I don’t want to gain weight.

It calms me.

I just like it.

Family or peer pressure.

So, what about you?  What’s YOUR reason? (If you haven’t posted your answer yet, go ahead and do it now.  Thanks)

Approximately 80% of the reasons people smoke can be attributed to mental, physical and psychological connections, such as:

• boredom,
• rote habit (connected to other actions like talking on the phone, driving, after eating, etc.),
• peer pressure like social events, occassions, work breaks and other gatherings,
• denial that smoking is actually causing harm (and denial is scary to think about), and
• sometimes, we just don’t care.  We think we can take care of it any ol’ time we want.

… can be attributed to the actual chemical addiction of nicotine the approximately 600 other ingredients in cigarettes. According to the American Lung Association, those ingredients, when burned, create more than 7,000 chemicals … with at least 69 of them known to cause cancer! (Find out what chemicals are in cigarettes and other common places those chemicals are found. It may really freak you out.

Many of these chemicals are cleared out of the body and leave a “vacuum” effect … making one crave more of the chemical.  Take nicotine for example, for most, it will be completely out of their blood system within 3 days.  Unfortunately, as it’s clearing out, your body will send messages to your brain; letting it know its levels are getting low.  This can trigger a chemical urge or craving to “fill back up”.  Nicotine can take up to 20 days to completely clear out, according to New Health Guide.

Because of that time-frame, many nicotine replacement treatments usually “step down” a person over 4 to 8 weeks.

When quitting, it’s extremely important to understand where YOUR 80% is coming from.  There are products and even down right pig-headed determination to help you with the 20% – lessening the power the chemicals have on you.  Be sure to focus on what to do when you are quitting and developing new and “better” habits; preventing boredom and stress to send you back to cigarettes.  Get FREE help coming up with a plan by downloading IFQ’s “How to Quit Smoking Action Plan“.