HOW SMOKING AND NICOTINE CREATE ADDICTION

Smoking and Nicotine

• Nicotine is a substance that occurs NATURALLY in the plant we call tobacco.
• Tobacco is the only plant in the world that contains nicotine.
• Nicotine is an insidious drug because it exerts a subtle influence on the user’s body and brain.
• Nicotine produces a “ pleasing ” effect on the brain (among other things by stimulating the production of the body’s natural opiates includingdopamine) without undesirable changes in behaviour (it doesn’t leave you feeling euphoric, depressive, or drowsy, it doesn’t induce hallucinations, and you continue to behave “normally”). But...

Just like "hard" drugs :

• Nicotine is habit-forming. It creates a need for regular consumption of increasing amounts to achieve the same sense of well-being.
• Nicotine creates a physical dependency that causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the level of nicotine in the body drops.

Even if these withdrawal symptoms are not as dramatic as those caused by heroin or cocaine detoxification, nicotine’s influence creates a dependency that is just as strong!

Smoking and Nicotine: Physical Dependency

• You’ve been introducing this potent drug into your brain for many years.
• With each puff, nicotine stimulates the brain in less than 10 seconds!
• Inhaling is the quickest way to send a drug to the brain. The brain reacts instantly to nicotine by producing substances that make you feel good. These substances are called endorphins, and one of them is called dopamine.
• Your brain normally produces and manages these substances on its own when :
  • you do things you like;
  • you experience pleasant situations.

For example :

• when you’re involved in physical activity (especially when you perform a move successfully);
• when you play an instrument or listen to music;
• when you achieve something you’re proud of;
• when you’re having fun;
• when you receive praise.
• when you receive a positive evaluation (a promotion, congratulations at work, etc);
• when you laugh;
• when you’re in love... and so on.

(Your brain produces a lot of endorphins in the last two cases.)

This is why you want to repeat those experiences. They make you feel good because of the endorphins produced by your brain.

So what’s wrong with nicotine?
You’re teaching your brain to produce and manage those endorphins primarily through the use of nicotine, on which you then depend to feel good.

You might say “so what?” If so, to learn more about nicotine, check out Aren’t they exaggerating? and I smoke 100% natural tobacco to find out about the dangerous substances that come with it.

The Psychological Dependency Created by Smoking and Nicotine

In addition to physical dependency, nicotine creates apowerful psychological dependency.

Why? How?

• Each time you smoke a cigarette, you inhale an average of 10 to 12 puffs. In other words, with each cigarette you inject yourself a dozen times with a drug that helps you feel good.
• Each of those puffs will be positively linked in your brain with the event or situation you are living at that moment.
• It doesn’t matter if you’re enjoying yourself, or if you’re bored, stressed, sad or angry, you still depend on that cigarette to help you feel better.
• In addition to making your brain dependent on an external drug, you’ve also programmed it to associate cigarettes with every single situation in your life.
• This is why many smokers treat cigarettes as their friends. Isn’t it sad, to be friends with a roll of paper filled with shredded leaves
• You now understand why it is so hard to free yourself from tobacco addiction... To understand even more clearly, see the section entitled If the idea of quitting makes you panic …

Maybe you know a smoker who quit cold turkey? How come?

• That smoker is part of the small lucky minority (less than 10%) who manages to quit this way and don’t start smoking again in the following year. This could be explained by :
  • A lesser state of addiction;
  • A personal initiative similar to the process put forward by this site (a mix of awareness processes and actions.)

So, don’t forget that all other smokers (over 90%) who try to quit cold turkey start again in less than a year.

The longer you wait before you decide to stop, the more likely it is that the path to success will be long and difficult. On average, it takes five to six attempts over as many as 20 years. Many people become discouraged along the way, with predictable results...

A Crutch

Think about it :

• Over the years, you’ve learned to manage your life with a crutch...
• This crutch will follow you wherever you go, but will reduce the length and quality of your life by poisoning you slowly, while you watch a small fortune go up in smoke…
• So what’s the point of smoking?
• Do you really believe you can’t experience life without a paper tube stuffed with bits of a plant?
• Most people don’t smoke, and yet they also know how to have fun and deal with hard or boring times. So...
• The sooner you decide to take action, the better your chance of learning how to breathe again without a crutch.

Pharmaceutical Aids to Free Yourself from Smoking and Nicotine

The best-known stop-smoking aids are nicotine patches(used in three steps: 21 mg-14mg-7mg), nicotine gum(2mg and 4mg), nicotine inhalers and nasal sprays,bupropion (Zyban) or varenicline (Champix/Chantix)pills.

These products are recommended for people who experience or worry about experiencing significant or unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Research shows that these nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) can double the odds of successfully kicking the cigarette addiction, if they are paired with psychological and behavioural counselling with a doctor, the “iQuitNow” services, or any other person or program known to be trustworthy.

These products don’t take away the urge to smoke, which reappears in various situations tied to the smoker’s lifestyle.

• Emotional associations with cigarettes – the psychological dependency – are often hard to overcome.

A visit to the doctor is recommended to make sure the anti-smoking therapy you want to try fits your health. Although some of these nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) are available over the counter, a prescription from your doctor ensures that the Quebec government will refund part of the treatment costs. For more information, ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Patches and gums help smokers who want to quit byreleasing a constant dose of nicotine over 24 or 16 hours, depending on the brand of patch. If the patch delivers a strong dose, it’s better to take off the patch at night. Otherwise, it’s best to follow the complete treatment.

Do not smoke while using the patch.

Bupropion (Zyban) pills don’t contain nicotine, but act on the part of the brain that is stimulated by nicotine. As a result, the smoker feels less need to smoke. In addition, bupropion seems to significantly minimize weight gain for some people. However, its effectiveness varies between individuals and may also bring unwanted side effects. Ask your doctor about this

There are no miracle cures to make you stop smoking without any effort on your part. However, this doesn’t mean quitting is necessarily painful. The goal of this site is to help you stop smoking through a personalized program, in a safe and fun environment. Take a look around!

Besides, did you know that laughter and fun are the best strategies to free yourself from your tobacco dependency?

Once you are free, your brain will recover its capacity to produce endorphins on its own.