People think that to give up smoking, all they need to do would be to replace the nicotine provided by the cigarette. There are a variety of products in the marketplace, many over the counter, that give an ample supply of replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason people continue to smoke is because of the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not a need for nicotine.
In this article, we shall look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.
The Nicotine Model of Smoking
Back the 1990’s, nicotine got called an extremely addictive substance. It had been blamed for the reason why people think it is hard to give up smoking. Yet, cigarette smoking does not fit this is of a chemical addiction.
In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps an individual smoking. It followed that if nicotine could possibly be provided from the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the 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 real driving force to smoke cigarettes. However, if you have various other reason people smoke, like the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never be a highly 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 cigarette smoking are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do precisely what they say; they provide a very ample supply of nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous amounts of nicotine, that they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and take away the desire to have 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 half a year. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people 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.
The outcomes for the gum was about the same. Despite the fact that the gum was providing the smoker with plenty of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of individuals were still smoking and at six months, 92% were smoking.
The research showed that the 8% – 9% of the people who had stop smoking utilizing the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to give up smoking! In other words, they were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A GENUINE Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he explained that he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to quit and it had taken him 2 yrs until he was finally off of cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Think about that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a big supply of nicotine just as it is made to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Quite simply, the gum, loaded with nicotine was not substituting for the cigarette as it theoretical must have done.
Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after two years. But it wasn’t the gum, it was him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Just like the 8% – 9% of the people in the study study mentioned above.
Nicotine isn’t the Motivator to Smoke
The amount of nicotine a smoker gets in one cigarette is very small. Compare the cigarette to the body mass; it’s tiny therefore is the quantity of nicotine it contains.
However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum are loaded with nicotine. That’s what they’re designed to do; put adequate nicotine in to the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the necessity to smoke a cigarette. paras nikotiinipussi However, most smokers have adverse reactions to these products because they are getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all of this extra nicotine do?
Based on the American Lung Association, unwanted effects with the nicotine patch are:
Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an impact on the smokers body. However, with all the current items that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce the effects mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine isn’t 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 would be to remove 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 can help 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.
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