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Why do you like cigarettes?Published by Bupa's health information team, healthinfo@bupa.com, April 2008 It may not be a question you have asked yourself very often, but it's surprisingly important to understand why you like cigarettes. Everyone has their own reasons for smoking, and cigarettes often fulfil physical, emotional and psychological needs. By understanding your reasons for smoking, you can learn to replace cigarettes with something that fulfils your needs without harming your health. Understanding why you smokeYou may have started smoking when you were young, because it was fashionable or rebellious, or because your parents or friends smoked. However, over time your relationship with smoking will have changed. Now, you are more likely to use cigarettes to break up the day or when socialising with friends. The first step to understanding your reasons for smoking is to keep a diary for one week. Every time you smoke, jot down:
After a week, you should be able to see trends and patterns to your smoking and help reveal habits and reasons you weren't aware of. Common reasons for smoking"Smoking helps me think and gives me pleasure"Cigarettes contain nicotine which is not only addictive but also a powerful stimulant. After inhaling cigarette smoke, it takes seconds for the nicotine to enter your bloodstream and reach your brain. Once there, it stimulates the release of dopamine and noradrenalin. This gives you an instant rush - it makes you feel great, improves your concentration and speeds up your reaction time. However, in time you will develop a tolerance to many of these effects and the nicotine won't improve your performance as much. The feeling of pleasure that you get is a simple reaction to the nicotine in the cigarette as it satisfies the withdrawal cravings that have built up since your last cigarette. Every time you smoke a cigarette, it creates and reinforces this pattern of addiction. "Smoking helps me to relax when I am stressed"It's a common belief among smokers that cigarettes help calm them down when they are stressed. In reality, what happens is that within hours of your last cigarette you will begin to feel the effect of nicotine withdrawal. Symptoms of which include difficulty in concentration, and feeling irritable and agitated. Feeding your nicotine addiction will obviously reverse these effects and make you feel calmer. Therefore, you begin to associate smoking with feeling calm. In fact, there are many other healthier options that can work as effectively, such as breathing exercises. "Smoking helps me to socialise"For many people cigarettes offer a way to form and maintain friendships in social settings. It's easier to approach someone if you know you share a common interest. Smokers will often ask someone for a match or lighter to help start a conversation. You may be using your smoking habit to help bond with work colleagues. Cigarettes give you a legitimate excuse for having a break and a chance to catch up on office gossip. Finding an alternative, such as doing a crossword together can help achieve a similar result. "Smoking gives me something to do"Cigarettes can be used as a distraction in difficult situations - particularly by giving your hands something to do. You may be using cigarettes to help relieve boredom or break-up the monotony of everyday life. Give it a goTake time to think about why you like cigarettes - and be honest. Consider ways you could achieve the same results without cigarettes, such as taking up new hobbies or seeking professional help to improve your self-confidence. Treating the reasons behind your need to smoke will help you to give up smoking for good. So what's stopping you? Give it a go and find out. Further information
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