Teenagers Have As Much Trouble Quitting Smoking As Adults Do

The sooner you quit smoking the greater your chances are of staving off a host of smoking-related health issues, including emphysema, lung cancer and heart disease. However, putting out that last cigarette is easier said than done. And it’s not just adult smokers who have difficulty quitting the habit.
A new study finds that teens experience many of the same negative psychological effects during abstinence as adults do, even if they had been smoking only a short time. Although, there are some exceptions to these findings, according to researchers at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Adolescents are showing — even relatively […]

The Cost of Smoking

I ask my clients when they come in for quit smoking what it costs them. This is not just from the health view but how much money it costs to smoke. Most people cannot tell me. Why is this? I think it is for two reasons;
1. The cost to smoke is not seen in a lump sum. Payment is packet by packet and so the total cost is not seen.
2. People don’t want to acknowledge the cost.
The actual cost of cigarettes makes more impact in first world countries as taxation has made smoking expensive. This still does not prevent people from smoking. […]

Who’s in Control?

I ask all the people that come to me to quit smoking if they think that smoking and cigarettes controls them. It’s amazing how many people tell me that their smoking habit does not control them. They then proceed to tell me how they have to go to special places to smoke, they leave gatherings to smoke, and they go to service stations at night and pay exorbitant prices to buy cigarettes.
People also often tell me that they plan their day around smoking and yet still tell me that their smoking habit does not control them. Even so called control […]

VALUES DICTATE YOUR GOALS

Have you ever set a goal and did not accomplish it? Chances are that they were not congruent with your top values. If you set a goal that is congruent with your top values or will allow you to reach your top values then you will probably achieve it.
A goal is something that you perceive is missing in your life, a void. Your values and the hierarchy of your values are unique to you. You spend your life fulfilling your values, in particular your top values. What are your top values? There is an exercise to determine these but look […]

High Toxic Compounds Found In Tobacco Not Regulated By Law

Researchers from the University of Alicante (Spain) have analyzed ten brands of cigarettes and found that the concentrations of certain harmful and carcinogenic substances vary significantly from one brand to another. Until now legislation has not covered these compounds and only establishes limits for nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide. Scientists have also developed catalysts to reduce the harmful products in tobacco.
In accordance with current legislation, cigarette packets indicate the nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide concentrations in order to confirm that these do not exceed permitted levels. However the quantity of these substances is not always proportional to the toxicity levels […]

You and Your Habits

Habits can be defined as routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously. In the American Journal of Psychology it is defined in this way: “A habit, from the standpoint of psychology, is a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience.”
Habituation is an extremely simple form of learning, in which an organism, after a period of exposure to a stimulus, stops responding to that stimulus in varied manners. Examples of habit formation are the following: If you instinctively reach for a cigarette the moment you […]

Some Chemicals Found in Cigarettes

Here are some hidden ingredients you can find in a cigarette. The toluene in glue and cigarettes is a toxic substance that produces euphoria and irritation of the airways and lungs. Cadmium is extremely poisonous and can be found in cigarettes, it results in kidney damage. Tar is an ingredient found in roads and tires as well as cigarettes. A two pack a day smoker inhales one gram of tar a day. That is a quart of thick, gooey tar inhaled a year. Mothballs contain naphthalenes, also found in cigarettes. This proven poison causes reproductive and brain breakdown. The arsenic […]

Labels

In this day and age it is easier to label everything. It seems as everything has to be put into a box by labelling it. Not only do we have people labelling us but we label ourselves. As with everything in life there is a benefit and a drawback of being labelled.
When you are labelled something your actions in life reflect the label. If you have labelled yourself as a smoker then you think like a smoker and act like a smoker. If you are fulfilling this label then it becomes more difficult to quit smoking. You may not […]

Smoking is a Habit

Habit can be defined as: an acquired pattern of behavior that often occurs automatically (Wikipedia)
Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously. The American Journal of Psychology defines habit as: “A habit, from the standpoint of psychology, is a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience.” Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks. Habituation is an extremely simple form of learning, in which an organism, after […]

Is Nicotine Beneficial?

For quite a few people, nicotine provides the benefits that some people get from caffeine or Ritalin: it helps them focus and be more productive, overcoming attention-deficit-type problems. For some people, nicotine provides relief from stress, anxiety, or panic. For people suffering from some severe mental illnesses, nicotine seems to provide great relief, which probably explains why a very large fraction of psychiatric patients smoke.
Nicotine is also suspected as the reason for the lower incidence of Parkinson’s Disease among smokers. And for those who have it, nicotine appears to reduce the associated symptoms.
Laws against smoking in public places are often […]