People think that to give up smoking, all they need to do is to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are a number of products on the market, many over-the-counter, that provide an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.
In this article, we shall look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.
The Nicotine Style of Smoking
Back in the 1990’s, nicotine got labeled as an extremely addictive substance. It had been blamed for the reason why people find it hard to quit 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 when nicotine could possibly be provided from the source other than cigarettes, the smoker would not crave cigarettes. Thus, the individual would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the source of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the brand new source of nicotine could be gradually reduced as time passes until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.
This would be a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the true driving force to smoke cigarettes. However, if there is some other reason people smoke, like the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will not be a highly effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the potency 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’re superb products and do just what they say; they give a very ample supply of nicotine. Because the smoker gets generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches ought to be incredibly effective and take away the desire to have a cigarette. But how effective are they?
nikotiinipussit netistä 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 and it was reduced to 9.2% at six months. Considering it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.
The results for the gum was a comparable. Even though the gum was providing the smoker with a lot 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 quit smoking! In other words, they were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A GENUINE Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me concerning the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he told me he was an ex-smoker. He said he had used nicotine gum to give up also it had taken him 2 yrs until he was finally from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Think about that for a moment. The nicotine gum was providing a big supply of nicotine just as it is designed 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 2 yrs. But it wasn’t the gum, it had been 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 is Not the Motivator to Smoke
How much nicotine a smoker gets in a single cigarette is very small. Compare the cigarette to your system 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 are designed to do; put adequate nicotine into the smokers system to, theoretically at the very least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they are getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?
In line with the American Lung Association, side effects with the nicotine patch are:
Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on the skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an impact on the smokers body. However, with all the items that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you pass the nicotine model to give up smoking, you are going to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking would be to take away 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 provides you the powerful psychological tools essential to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program can help you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Learn how this program can assist you permanently remove cigarettes from your life.