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21 Sep 2021, 10:48 am

C2V wrote:
I quit myself and it was no big deal. Just as I did heavy alcohol, and years of benzodiazapines and painkillers. Withdrawal is uncomfortable, no denying that. But you know you have to give it up because it's killing you. Withdrawal is temporary. It's like a cold or flu - you accept you're going to feel like garbage for a few weeks, but then you'll be ok.


Congrats on your ability to quit all of these substances! I've never been a smoker, but I've struggled with other addictions.

All of that being said, I think there are a LOT of reasons people are unable to quit cigarettes or any other addictive substance/habit (so many gray areas). Just a few reasons I can think of:
1) Willpower and addictive tendencies vary within any population. Genetics also play a huge role in chances of becoming an addict + our ability to overcome an addiction (damned epigenetic marks).
2) Many addicts have some sort of trauma they are masking/numbing with a specific chemical. Taking away that chemical can sometimes mean facing that trauma head on.
3) Support for addicts is variable. There may be a lack of resources and information on alternative coping mechanisms. Mental health resources may also be unavailable or unaffordable.
4) Addicts often hang out with other addicts, leading to the perpetuation of said addiction.
5) There is a ridiculous amount of social pressure and media which reinforces that these habits are positive (or cool).
6) It just may not be the right time for a person to quit. Anxiety, different stressors, and so many other factors may prevent a person from quitting despite the desire to do so. Given the right environmental conditions, I would assume that quitting habits would be a lot easier.
7) Change is hard in general.


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21 Sep 2021, 11:21 am

Why people smoke... peer pressure, stress, trying new things, availability of the product, marijuana being now legal also. It's a society thing and it ain't going away. Sure, there is not as much pressure as there was back in the 70s and 80s, but a lot of people still smoke and it's a choice, although often a semi desired choice... once you start, it's tough to quit.



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21 Sep 2021, 11:50 am

Some say nicotine is more addicting than heroin.

My friend sorta girlfriend of many years is being treated for lung cancer. Never made any secret of my disapproval of her smoking during the decades I knew her.



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21 Sep 2021, 12:06 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Some say nicotine is more addicting than heroin.

My friend sorta girlfriend of many years is being treated for lung cancer. Never made any secret of my disapproval of her smoking during the decades I knew her.


Good point. I've known people that quit heroin but could never kick cigarettes.


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21 Sep 2021, 12:08 pm

Its addiction. My father in his 60s started smoking at 14 because his older friends did it and now can't quit. A few years ago he switched to e-cigarettes which don't smell as bad.



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21 Sep 2021, 12:11 pm

I smoke because I'm physically addicted to them. About a month ago, after not smoking for over 3 years, I started up again. It only took one to get me hooked again.



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21 Sep 2021, 12:15 pm

Steve1963 wrote:
I smoke because I'm physically addicted to them. About a month ago, after not smoking for over 3 years, I started up again. It only took one to get me hooked again.

Out of curiosity, did something trigger you to pick one up again? Stress, trauma, etc?


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21 Sep 2021, 12:24 pm

Yes. The stress of separating from my wife and kids. I also relapsed and drank alcohol for the first time in over 22 years.



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21 Sep 2021, 1:01 pm

Steve1963 wrote:
Yes. The stress of separating from my wife and kids. I also relapsed and drank alcohol for the first time in over 22 years.


*virtual hugs* I'm so sorry for what you are going through. :'( I'm at just over 6 years sober (I had a binge drinking problem), but I cannot deny that I am tempted to drink during stressful times.


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Steve1963
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21 Sep 2021, 1:06 pm

Thanks.

Don't drink. Call someone. Get your ass to an AA meeting. Do whatever you have to do to not pick up that first drink.



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21 Sep 2021, 1:12 pm

What I don't get is some smokers panic about getting covid, but they have no problem smoking cigarettes. I think the government has got people believing that covid is the most deadliest thing in human history and that lung cancer isn't as bad as covid.


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21 Sep 2021, 1:16 pm

Steve1963 wrote:
Thanks.

Don't drink. Call someone. Get your ass to an AA meeting. Do whatever you have to do to not pick up that first drink.

I appreciate it. I've never been to an AA meeting as most of the chapters around here are nonsecular. I've been pretty fortunate to have a partner who is also trying to stay sober. We both stopped drinking together back in 2015 (after 2 or 3 failed attempts), and we both talk about it when we are feeling the urge to drink again. We are preparing for a stressful cross-country move right now (and my pain levels are through the roof), so we've been talking A LOT about it lately!


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21 Sep 2021, 1:53 pm

There are no nonsecular chapters of AA...they all rely on the belief in a higher power. I'm struggling with that myself as I'm an agnostic. Not really finding god (as I know him) yet...



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21 Sep 2021, 1:57 pm

Steve1963 wrote:
There are no nonsecular chapters of AA...they all rely on the belief in a higher power. I'm struggling with that myself as I'm an agnostic. Not really finding god (as I know him) yet...


Ahh. I was under the impression that there were some secular alternatives to AA in more northerly towns/cities in the US? My memory is not the best lately though! :)

I'm not religious either. More of a naturalistic pantheist. I don't know much of anything, but I find the natural world and the Universe to be miraculous and beautiful.

Sorry for the topic derail, OP!


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21 Sep 2021, 2:18 pm

If the question is "why do people still START smoking" the answer is the same as it was in my day back in the Seventies. Peer pressure when you're a teen in school. No one takes up smoking as an adult it seems.

But once you get hooked then its really hard to stop because its so addicting. So that why grownups who got hooked as teens remain hooked.

Twenty five a day (what the OP's friend smokes) is modest. When my dad smoked in the Sixties the average smoker smoked "two packs a day" (which is forty cigarettes).

Being an aspie I had zero friends in highschool. But did make friends in college. And that odd thing about my biography resulted in me being one of the few folks I know who is both a weed smoker, but NOT also cigarette smoker. The later peer pressure in college got me a taste for marajuana, but it was too late to get me to smoke tobacco.



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21 Sep 2021, 3:25 pm

I tried smoking when I was only 12, but I never got hooked on it. I did it to impress others and look 'big', but I didn't keep it up. I didn't see the point in sneaking around behind my mum's back with cigarettes. Besides, almost none of the other girls in my class smoked. A lot were the 'average' types who attended all their classes but liked the normal teenage stuff like fashion, makeup and magazines, but never got into the unhealthy teenage fads like smoking, drinking or drugs. Obviously smoking, drinking and drugs were common at my school but I always knew the sort of kids that were involved in that kind of thing.
But I'm glad I listened to my instinct that told me not to carry on smoking. And I'm supposed to be the naive Aspie, am I?


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