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 that you can buy, many over-the-counter, that provide an ample supply of 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.
nikotiini pussit 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 find it hard to give up smoking. Yet, cigarette smoking does not fit the definition of a chemical addiction.
In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps a person smoking. It followed that when nicotine could be provided from a source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would stop 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 over time until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.
This would be considered a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the real driving force to smoke cigarettes. However, if there is various other reason people smoke, like the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will not be a highly 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 are superb products and do just what they say; they provide a very ample supply of nicotine. Because the smoker is getting generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches ought to be incredibly effective and remove 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 half a year. Looking at 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. 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 six months, 92% were smoking.
The research showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had quit smoking utilizing the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to quit smoking! Basically, 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 told me that he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to quit and it had taken him 2 yrs until he was finally from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Think about that for a moment. 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. Quite simply, the gum, loaded with nicotine had not been substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical should have done.
Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after 2 yrs. 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 the people in the research study mentioned above.
Nicotine isn’t the Motivator to Smoke
The quantity of nicotine a smoker gets in one cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to the body 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 into the smokers system to, theoretically at the very least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have adverse reactions to these products because they are getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?
According to 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 your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an effect on the smokers body. However, with the items that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you pass the nicotine model to quit smoking, you are going to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to remove 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? – This program that provides you the powerful psychological tools essential 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 can assist you permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.