Mature Smokers Who Don’t Want to Stop Smoking

In My Humble Opinion
41

Dammit, that’s not helping. shakes fist

Yeah, real bummer that. :mad:
You’re spot on about everything else, though. And yes, I have smoked while reading this!

I think of it as more ‘habit’ than ‘addiction’. But maybe I’m just splitting hairs.
I do think my love of it is more than simple addiction or habit, though. I liked smoking right from my first ever cigarette (OK, maybe my third or fourth; the first couple just made me ill :smiley: ), and even before I started, I liked the idea of it. It just feels so right.

I think the one thing I can take out of this thread is that [del]smoking is awesome[/del] I’m far from the only one that actually enjoys it - I always sort of assumed that everyone else that had smoked for years was just doing it out of habit/addiction and would quit if they could. I guess I’m not a special snowflake after all.

Anyway, my doctor keeps advertising the free NHS quit smoking sessions they do; maybe it’s time to sign up. I’ll give them a call tomorrow. :slight_smile:

42

Bingo! :smiley:

Good idea! Let us know what they say when you call. :slight_smile:

43

I think what bothers me about the current anti-smoking atmosphere is the following message:

“You are killing–yes-killing–those around you, and you are going to die a horrible, awful, death. You disgust those around you, with that stink upon you. And you are scum, besides. Your kids will die, you will die, and it will be ugly deaths, in all cases. You asshole; you are killing us all!”

A friend who is an addictions counsellor (cocaine, alcohol, heroin, and yes, tobacco) says that is the worst thing you can say to an addict–it only makes him or her want the substance more; in order to prove you wrong. Additionally, you need to point out the benefits to them, not others, such as children or spouses. To tobacco addicts, kids and spouses are not worth worrying about. After all, smoking was an accepted social activity in bars, restaurants, and homes with kids, up until the 1990s.

Based on his recommendations, I’d suggest that perhaps, if society really wants to stop people smoking, it needs to adopt a gentler tack: “You can play in the park with your grandchildren if you quit.” “You can make the team if you quit.” “You can be a rock star without smoking.” And so on. Show a happy and prosperous future without smoking, instead of an ugly death caused by smoking. The former hasn’t been very well tried, while the latter has been used over and over, to the point where is just bounces off deaf ears.

I admit it: I enjoy my pipe and my cigars. But those are for my back deck on a nice summer’s day. Well, OK, I’ll admit this too: a pipe and a good book on a cold winter’s night by the fire, is OK too. But that’s at home, and not in public. I’m not bothering anybody, and I accept all risks.

44

There is a pill that takes away the urge to smoke. My doc gave me chantix, he said 9 out of 10 of his patients quit with it. Bad dreams caused 10% to stop using chantix. Sorry to sound like a commercial, just hoping it will help someone.

45

The problem is that while I fully agree that is a useful “step”, it just isn’t true. Or rather, it trivializes what is meant by “addiction”.

It’s the equivalent of saying “you know what would be useful to curb your debt problem? To admit that you don’t really enjoy living in a house in a nice part of town. You can get along perfectly well in a tiny apartment in the middle of nowhere. It’s just your ‘addiction’ to expensive real estate that keeps you in debt”.

Cigarettes have a component of physical addiction it is true, but the primary reason some people smoke them is that the very activity of smoking them is quite pleasurable. While yes, I (and everyone else) would have found quitting a lot easier if I truly believed that it wasn’t “really” pleasureable, it is hard to conciously choose to believe something that, subjectively, is the opposite of reality as we experience it.

For myself, I quit “cold turkey” and I did it by simply admitting to myself that this particular pleasure would kill me, and it was silly to kill myself for a comparatively trivial pleasure. Denying it was a pleasure in the first place would have helped I suppose, but I have always found deceiving myself to be difficult.

46

Exactly. I think the scare tactics did help the vast majority of people to quit - smoking rates have plummeted from the 1960 until about the 80s, after all. But we still have a stubborn 20% or so who still choose to smoke, and those who choose to START smoking even raised in the culture of fear and loathing of cigarettes. So clearly, these people need a different tack. What is it they say of those who try the same thing over and over again expecting different results? :wink:

We know from research into vaccination interventions that telling parents all the scary things that can happen if they don’t vaccinate their kids doesn’t work very well at all to increase vaccination intent, and in some studies even lowers intent to vaccinate rates. These parents are better motivated by pointing out the benefits to their child of vaccination, phrased in positive terms (“healthier”, not “won’t get paralyzed by polio” etc.). I don’t see why smoking cessation should be much different.

Some people are motivated by avoiding risks, but others are motivated by realizing benefits. We’ve done a great job with the first group, but are totally missing the second group.

Just as a counterpoint to all the reasons smoking is awesome, here are the benefits I’ve realized: I can breathe freely without coughing. I can taste and smell things I’d forgotten taste and smell so good. I can walk up three flights of stairs now and keep walking when I reach the top. My patients say nice things like, “Your hair smells so nice!” because they can smell my shampoo now that smoke isn’t lingering in my hair. I can wake up later and still make it to work on time because I’m not wasting time getting my morning fix. I have saved SO MUCH MONEY! Smoking is, indeed, awesome. Not smoking is so much more awesomer.

47

Exactly this. When I started smoking, I knew exactly how bad it was. But, I was nineteen and therefore immortal. Lung cancer and heart disease was something that happened to other people. :rolleyes:

Similarly, telling me that it was a disgusting, smelly habit only done by social lepers didn’t work, because I couldn’t see that. What I could see was a bunch of interesting friends sitting around and chatting while doing something they clearly enjoyed.
Where I worked when I took up the habit, the smoking room was the most popular area for breaks. If anything, it was the non-smokers that were the social lepers.

Well, I’ve got my first session booked. A week on Friday.
In the meantime, I’ve been given a questionnaire to fill in, that I think might be hard work. For example, the answer section for ‘what do you enjoy about smoking?’ is only one line long. :slight_smile:

48

I always got a really sharp cognition rush. I don’t know if other people do. I could have a cigarette, think about a complex problem, and find an elegant solution before the cigarette was finished. When I gave up nicotine I noticed the immediate decline in that kind of thought, but it was worth it to me because I was just done with smoking.

49

I’ve noticed the same thing. Lighting up a smoke focuses my mind like a laser beam. I’m not sure if it’s the nicotine actually making me smarter (although I’m pretty sure that it isn’t, as nicotine gum doesn’t have the same effect at all), or if it’s something about the way it makes my brain focus attention, concentrate and clear away noise. I haven’t found anything else quite like it, though.

Obviously still not a good enough reason to smoke, as you say. If it turned me into a super genius, maybe it would be. But the effect is nowhere near that big.

50

For your unsolicited advice of the day…use another sheet of paper. Get it all out. Write a friggen ode to smoking if you want to.

After all, we say nice things about our friends at their funeral, right? You’re about to murder a good friend, for all the right reasons. Take a moment to make the farewell a good and thorough one.

51

As an introvert, part of my enjoyment was getting away from crowds, noisy parties and group gatherings in order to have a few minutes to myself. You also meet some really interesting people when you have to bum a light or huddle together over an ashtray.

I only vape now, but it’s not the same. I do love not smelling like an ashtray though.

52

This was my husband’s approach. He said he thought about it as the death of a friend. (Also, he told himself that he could start again when he turns 70. He knows he won’t, but “it’s not forever” really helped him stay quit for now.)

53

The same could be said about caffeine. I love the taste of coffee brewed all different ways. I love black, hot tea, iced tea and diet coke. I love learning how to prepare a great cup of coffee.

And I used to love smoking. I started with pipes and cigars, but back when it was still socially acceptable to smoke cigarettes in restaurants, pipes and cigars were nevertheless frowned upon. So I smoked cigarettes when me and my high school buddies stayed up all night playing cards, talking philosophy and drinking coffee at Denny’s. And it tied me to a hundred years of tradition. I felt like a WWII soldier, like a gilded age tycoon in his smoking jacket, like Tom Joad, like Marlon Brando and Keith Richards and Holden Caulfield.

And now that I’ve quit, I’m really enjoying the hobby side of e-cigs. I make coils, try different juices/atomizers/mods, figure out the best wattage setting for huge tasty clouds.

You admit that the psychological addiction is what people love. That the physical addiction is minimal in comparison. And my point is that is why we do basically anything we do. There are people addicted to their D&D groups. There are people addicted to video games. There are people addicted to woodworking. It ties them to history, it gives them a social outlet where they feel included, it provides something to research and learn and improve at, and it occupies their mind with something besides bills and stress.

And nicotine is a drug, don’t forget. It has some positive effects, too, in addition to the bad ones. It’s like a mild dose of adderall for one thing, and it gives a sort of rush, and decreases appetite. Don’t underestimate the importance that can have for the poor and the anxious and the stressed-out. Self-medicating is a hobby for many people.

In that sense, smoking is a hobby like any other. So focusing on the addiction is not going to sway me or most smokers. Because addiction is not the problem. The deadly side effects are the problem.

That’s why I quit. That and because my wife demanded it. :wink: Ecigs aren’t health food either, I’ll bet, but I’m quite sure they are significantly safer than tobacco cigarettes.

54

On the occassions that I have quit for days or weeks I have to admit that the physical withdrawal was very minimal, almost negligable. Urges would usually pass within minutes of having one unless I chose to focus on the urge.

55

I was just thinking about how I never, ever smell cigarette smoke these days.

After indoor smoking was banned, it was still common to smell the smoke when entering a restaurant or bar at night. I haven’t really been to a bar in a long time, and restaurants seem to be pushing people away from the buildings when they smoke, so really, I hardly ever smell it.

My Mother smokes. Inside. With the windows shut. I’m afraid to say that it limits my visiting with her due to how thoroughly overwhelming it is.

It’s amazing how off-putting smoke is now that I’m never around it.

But anyway, back on topic. My Mother is 75 and refuses to even consider the thought of quitting. Never mind that my Father lives with her and has to exist in all that smoke. Thinking about it now really angers me.

56

I enjoy smoking but I am not addicted, in fact I work at sea and have just had my first cigarette in 4 weeks. This thread made me think ‘I fancy a smoke’… I smoke at bars in countries where it is still legal, but rarely bother in the UK to go outside to smoke. Usually have a pack on me as someone said its a good way to kill a few moments and contemplate stuff.

57

I just thought I’d update on this.

I had my session with the nurse; it ended up being a bit shorter and more to the point than I was expecting. After we went through my form, it kind of went like:

Nurse: Have you tried NRT?
Me: Yep. Doesn’t work.
Nurse: OK. We’ve got some pills that are quite effective. Do you want to give those a go?
Me: Sure.

Five minutes later I was out of there, prescription in hand. :smiley:

That’s what I’ve got (Well, it’s called Champix outside of the USA).
I seem to be doing OK with it so far, in terms of side effects. A slight bit of nausea for half an hour or so after taking one, but that’s about it. No dreams, depression or anything else.
What it has done is a) pretty much killed my urge to smoke - most of the time I just can’t be bothered now, and b) made cigarettes taste pretty manky when I do smoke them (also, no nicotine hit!). I’ve had one so far today (it’s just gone 8PM here) and I’m looking at my pack now but I honestly don’t feel like smoking one. I’m not even having any cravings.

Early days yet, but so far so good! :smiley:

58

Woo-hoo! Keep it up!:smiley:

59

Keep going! Good work.

Try some Wrigleys Doublemint gum.

60

Please try.