Truths, Myths and Lies – Quitting Smoking
Let me be blunt. There is absolutely nothing good that smoking cigarettes does for you at all, there are no advantages – the reasons for smoking are fallacies and illusions. However, it is only when you stop that the truth about smoking becomes clear.
One of the biggest myths is thinking that you need to smoke, that your life is better for smoking, that you would be prepared to die rather than be without them and that to be without is like dying…
FACT: Not smoking has never killed anyone! There are lots of times when smokers don’t smoke….for example in a place of worship, in the pub, in the workplace, on public transport, on a plane, in restaurants, during the night when asleep, in hospitals….. so control is perfectly possible.
FACT: Smokers are drug addicts (no, I know you probably don’t like to see it that way, but it’s true nonetheless). Nicotine is a highly addictive drug but nicotine withdrawal symptoms are mild in comparison with other addictions such as alcohol, crack cocaine, heroin and strong painkillers.
FACT: Nicotine is a very clever trap – when you first smoke it tastes so awful (feeling sick, head spinning, choking, disgusting taste etc) that you may think that as it is so awful you should be able to stop anytime….and yet you carry on feeding the nicotine and so the trap is sprung.
Nicotine is the fastest addictive drug known to mankind:
- Every puff delivers a tiny dose of nicotine to the brain
- The reason you smoke is to feed the little nicotine monster (and the chain continues until you break it)
- It’s a very quick-acting drug (6 seconds from first draw to brain) and as soon as you put the cigarette out it rapidly leaves the body and you begin to suffer withdrawal pangs (but the pangs are tricks of the mind too)
- The experience of withdrawal is an empty feeling, not physical pain
Fortunately, it is a relatively easy drug to kick and it can help if you first consider yourself an addict to do so.
All smokers seem to know in their heart of hearts that they are mugs but the actual reason they continue to smoke comes down to 2 factors: Nicotine addiction and Brainwashing. And it is brainwashing that is the main problem.
People have been, and still are, subject to massive brainwashing by tobacco companies (and other smokers too) and also by pharmaceutical companies that want to peddle nicotine patches and other cures.
The LIES that are peddled include:
- Smokers are weak-willed – Fact: most smokers are the reverse and live demanding lives that require strong will in so many ways.
- Smoking relieves stress – Fact: the desire for a cigarette causes stress, cigarettes do not fill a void, they create it. People get very stressed when they run out of cigarettes.
- Smoking relieves boredom (yes it’s something to do but then is banging your head against a wall!). Ask yourself how often you have seen someone (including yourself) smoking because they were bored who is then immediately transformed into a lively, switched person! – Fact: smoking makes you lethargic especially when you lounge around doing it.
- Giving up is a sacrifice, it is very hard to give up, so why bother as giving up implies that you are losing something good – Fact: it is the smoker and not the non-smoker who is sacrificing their health, energy, peace of mind, wealth, self-respect, confidence, happiness and freedom. You are not “giving up” but “gaining lots” instead.
- Smoking helps you concentrate – Fact: it does the reverse as it blocks arteries and veins with poisons that starve the brain of the oxygen it needs.
- Smoking relaxes you – Fact: it does not as it is a chemical stimulant that increases pulse rate – try smoking two consecutively and see what happens.
Once you understand what smoking does to and for you, why carry on being a sucker?
For more information please see the following resources:
- Stop Smoking using hypnotherapy
- How life improves when you stop smoking
- 10 Ways to Help Yourself Stop Smoking
- What’s in tobacco?
- Some facts about smoking
