People think that to quit smoking, all they have to do would be to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are numerous of products in the marketplace, many non-prescription, that give an ample way to obtain 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 labeled as an extremely addictive substance. It was blamed for the reason why people find it hard to give up smoking. Yet, using tobacco 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 possibly be provided from the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker would not crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would stop smoking cigarettes by replacing the source of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the brand new source of nicotine could be gradually reduced over time until the 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, when there is some 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 effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.
The Research
Two products that follow the chemical addiction style of using tobacco are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do precisely what they say; they give a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Because the smoker is getting generous levels of nicotine, which 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. 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.
paras nikotiinipussi The results for the gum was about the same. Even though 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 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! In other words, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A GENUINE Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he explained that 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 from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Consider that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a large supply of nicotine in the same way it is designed 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 since it theoretical should have done.
Since the man wanted 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. Similar to the 8% – 9% of individuals in the study study mentioned above.
Nicotine isn’t 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 and so is the amount of nicotine it contains.
However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum are loaded with nicotine. That’s what they’re made to do; put adequate nicotine into the smokers system to, theoretically at the very 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 of 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 has an impact on the smokers body. However, with all the 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 is not the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you go by the nicotine model to give up smoking, you will definitely be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of 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? – The program that gives you the powerful psychological tools essential to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program helps you become, not an ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program can help YOU permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.