People think that to give up smoking, all they need to do is to replace the nicotine provided by the cigarette. There are a number of products that you can buy, many non-prescription, that give an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason people continue steadily to smoke is because of the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not 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 called an extremely addictive substance. It was 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 possibly be provided from the source other than cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would stop smoking cigarettes by replacing the source of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. www.puffandpouch.com Then, the 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 real driving force to smoke cigars. However, if you have some other reason people smoke, such as 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 style of cigarette smoking 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. 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 for 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 the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.
The results 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 six months, 92% were smoking.
The study showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had quit smoking using the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to give up smoking! Basically, they were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A Real Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me concerning the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he told me that he was an ex-smoker. He said he had used nicotine gum to give up and 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 large supply of nicotine just as it is made to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Basically, 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 two years. Nonetheless it wasn’t the gum, it was him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Just like the 8% – 9% of individuals in the research study mentioned above.
Nicotine is Not the Motivator to Smoke
How much nicotine a smoker gets in one cigarette is very small. Compare the cigarette to your body mass; it’s tiny therefore is the quantity 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 the very least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they’re getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?
Based on 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 your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an effect on the smokers body. However, with the things that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the effects mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine isn’t the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you pass the nicotine model to give up smoking, you are going to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to remove the Psychological Smoking Mechanism by using proven, psychological techniques. Once the mechanism is fully 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 gives you the powerful psychological tools necessary to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program helps you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Learn how this program will let you permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.