People think that to quit smoking, all they need to do is to replace the nicotine provided by the cigarette. There are a variety of products available to buy, many over-the-counter, that provide an ample supply of replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue steadily to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.
In this article, we will 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 a highly addictive substance. It was blamed for the reason why people think it is hard to quit smoking. Yet, using tobacco does not fit the definition 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 a source other than cigarettes, the smoker would not crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would stop smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the brand new source of nicotine could be gradually reduced over time before smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.
This would be considered a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the true driving force to smoke cigarettes. nikotiini pussit However, if you have various other reason people smoke, including the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never be an 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 using tobacco are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do precisely what they say; they give a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Because the smoker gets generous amounts of nicotine, which 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 individuals 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 results for the gum was about the same. Even though the gum was providing the smoker with a lot of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of individuals were still smoking and at 6 months, 92% were smoking.
The study showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had quit smoking using the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to give up smoking! Quite simply, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A Real Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he explained that 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!
Consider that for a moment. The nicotine gum was providing a large supply of nicotine in the same way 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 should have done.
Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after two years. Nonetheless 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
The quantity of nicotine a smoker gets in one cigarette is quite 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 contain nicotine. That’s what they’re made to do; put adequate nicotine into the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have adverse reactions to these products because they are getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all of this extra nicotine do?
According to 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 the skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an impact on the smokers body. However, with the items that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce the effects mentioned by the American Lung Association. This is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you pass the nicotine model to quit smoking, you are likely to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism by using proven, psychological techniques. When 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? – This program that provides you the powerful psychological tools necessary to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program can help you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program can help YOU permanently remove cigarettes from your life.