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 a difficult time 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 — […]

Does Smoking Relieve Stress?

Does smoking relieve stress? The answer to this is yes and no. Nicotine causes the blood vessels to contract and therefore causes your blood pressure to rise. By causing your blood pressure to rise it causes an increase in your stress. Therefore smoking causes an increase in stress in an already stressful situation. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.
There is no doubt that smoking can relieve stress, but it is not nicotine; it is the physical hand movement. The actual hand movement of placing and taking a cigarette from your mouth is the adult equivalent of putting a dummy in your […]

Cigarette Cravings and the Brain

Within the mind of every smoker trying to quit rages a battle between the higher-order functions of the brain wanting to break the habit and the lower-order functions screaming for another cigarette (Science Daily, Mar 2007)
Brain scans reveal three specific regions deep within the brain that appear to control dependence on nicotine and craving for cigarettes. These regions play important roles in some of the key motivations for smoking: to calm down when stressed, to achieve pleasure and to help concentration.
“If you can’t calm down, can’t derive pleasure and can’t control yourself or concentrate, then it will be extremely difficult […]

Why Do You Smoke?

People smoke because the act of smoking is personally meaningful to them. When quitting it is useful to explore the reasons and benefits of smoking. Ask the following questions:
1. How will smoking help or change this situation?
2. What situations make you smoke more?
3. What emotion or feeling am I trying to avoid or deny?
4. If I were not to smoke now,what would I feel? How would I handle that feeling?
5. What would I do with the energy that is freed up from quitting smoking?
6. What do I get from not smoking?
The most important factor in quitting smoking is a genuine […]

Smoke and Feel Good and Calm

The habit of smoking is often used to calm emotional issues such as anxiety, stress or low self esteem. Nicotine releases brain chemicals that heighten positive emotions and create a sense of reward, however this is only a very short term fix. The mental association between smoking and stress relief can make smoking quite difficult and this is one of the reasons that you have to be sure in your mind that you want to quit. Quitting in the short run may make yoy feel worse but in the long run it is worth it to gain control over your […]

Why People Smoke

Before you Quit smoking with hypnotherapy, it is a good idea to get clear in your mind why you smoke. If you are clear on this, you can then inform the hypnotherapist, who can then customise the quit process for you.
For many people, smoking is a lifestyle coping tool. Although every person’s specific reasons for smoking are unique, they all share a common theme. Smoking is used as a way to suppress uncomfortable feelings, and smoking is used to alleviate stress, calm nerves and relax. Knowing why you smoke is the first step towards Quitting. Below is a list of […]

Stress and Smoking

What is stress?

The term “stress” can have many different meanings and can relate to many different things. At times it is used to refer to environmental events that trigger a bodily reaction. At other times it is used to describe that reaction itself. Following the lead of pioneer stress researcher Dr. Hans Selye and others, stress is defined as a bodily state rather than an event in the environment (which is called a “stressor” or “stress trigger”).

Stress is the body’s natural response to demands. It is usually felt as an urgency or tension. Stress is a natural and, indeed, a […]

Why Do People Smoke

When quitting smoking it is important to understand why you smoke. People smoke for the following reasons:

1. Lifestyle Coping Tool : Smoking can be used as a way to suppress uncomfortable feelings and alleviate stress, calm nerves and to relax. It can also be a way of taking time out from a situation.

2. Tranquliser: Smokers with emotional stress or chronic pain often turn to smoking as an attempt to treat pain. There is some evidence that nicotine can soothe pain, mental and physical through working on the pleasure centres of the brain.

3. Feel Good: Nicotine works on the pleasure centres of […]

« 123