SMOKERS....I simply don't understand your habit.

Ok the title basically says it all. I don't smoke, I despise the smell of it and the reprocussions of it. I am confused as to how some people CONTINUE to smoke when they can hardly breathe and when they have non stop coughing fits and all the clear cut signs of a worsening battle of emphasima. I don't understand how you can continue to smoke when your quality of life is clearly diminishing. You can't do much physical work anymore, even walking up the stairs gives you wheezing/coughing fits. You can't even sleep throughout the night because you wake up constantly to gag and heavily cough due to tar ridden lungs. And in doing so you wake up the entire house in the process. Why do you choose to ignore the advice of family to stop smoking? WHAT IS IT ABOUT NICOTINE THAT MAKES FILLING THAT CRAVING MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN LIFE???

And if you are a smoker and have yet to experience these symptoms...are you just WAITING around for this to happen to you or what? Because REMEMBER when it gets THIS BAD it's already way too late. Why don't you make today your last day? If you constantly "quit" then you never really do QUIT, you just PAUSE...and that's not good enough, QUITTING IS QUITTING (and that means for GOOD!). Why do you continue to cause harm to your body for some 'fix', that in all reality doesn't even smell or taste good? I'm sick of giving the "you really need to quit" speech, it never works and it pisses me off!

I find that my relationship with people I know that are this bad into cigerette smoking is diminishing, because I feel they have no respect for themselves and I see it reflecting on how I treat them....

-DG724

This could be said for a lot of things, not just smoking! People who constantly over eat, people who constantly charge money on credit cards, people who constantly lie, people who are addicted to drugs, people who are alcoholics.

I'm a smoker and I am seriously thinking about quitting today. I am having medical problems and the only way to get rid of it is to stop smoking. It isn't easy though.

I understand. Even when I first started to smoke cigarettes I used to get sick all the time. I don't know what made me keep going. All I know is, I'm sick and tired of it now.

Great Post!

Its their choice. I don't smoke either, but I drink coffee.

If your sick of giving that speech, then why bother?

If you dont like it, thats fine with you, but let others do as they please.

I have quit myself, as you say, it doesnt smell or taste good. But its an addiction.

Lol i agree with you but on the other hand, it's their way of relieving stress. Some overeat which is just as bad as smoking.

If smoking wasnt bad for the body, I'd probably be one myself since i have an oral fixitation so when im stress i tend to suck my thumb. Thankfully it cant kill me nor does it make me stink or cough like a hag either lol

This could be said for a lot of things, not just smoking! People who constantly over eat, people who constantly charge money on credit cards, people who constantly lie, people who are addicted to drugs, people who are alcoholics.

Very good point!

Well, yeah this goes for any unhealthy habit..but I'm specifically interested in the smoking habit...do you smoke "itsmylife99"? If so, Why?

You know, in my opinion, smoking is a habbit. A habbit is hard to break. Just like any habbit. Drugs. Selfharm. Alcohol. It's all addictions.

I was bought up alot around smoking, and thereforeeee I'm what they call a 'passive smoker', I once tried smoking after my nan died, tasted disgusting so I stopped straight away, also that and considering I could barely breathe.

My mum, sister, grandad, aunts, cousins, dad, they all smoke. I misunderstand also why they do, but considering it's an addiction, I get it because I have addictions also, and they are not liked at all, people may not like their addictions, but that's not the point, the point is they are addicted, so they can't just stop. If people are strong enough to quit, good on them, but they will relapse, no question in that, they will relapse. But they'll carry on trying. That's the important bit. Not the fact they couldn't quit and they 'caved in', but the fact they tried and they continue too.

Yes, smoking is horrible and disgusting, but to a smoker, it's an addiction and it's something they can't just stop. They may find it disgusting themselves, but it'll take much willpower to stop fully. Any addiction is hard to quit fully.

I forgot what I was going to say... lol, but erm, that's pretty much summing it up...

Just my opinion.

Clin Psych, BECAUSE THIS PERSON IS A FAMILY MEMBER AND I'M WATCHING THEM KILL THEMSELF THATS WHY! What would YOU DO??

I think the world would be better if people took up thumbsucking instead

I think the world would be better if people took up thumbsucking instead

 

I still do that lol!

Its their choice. I don't smoke either, but I drink coffee.

Just because it's THEIR CHOICE, it makes it OK?? Thats not true, this person has a responsiblity to stay healthy and keep the family financially together, and everyday it gets worse and worse and all because of a deady addiction.

-DG724

I think the world would be better if people took up thumbsucking instead

 

I agree, second hand smoke makes me so effin angry!! I don't want this crap, but I'm stuck breathing it in.

Eesh, judgmental, aren't we?

The only reason I ever took up smoking, and I smoke only occasionally, is because I'm a recovering alcoholic, and this is one practice that is most common with people trying to overcome substance addictions. It helps you deal with the cravings for your drug of choice. So, in the short term, it serves a greater purpose.

I've been using cigs for a year, now, but am in NO WAY addicted to them. If every cigarette fell off the face of the earth, I would be fine. It's just a crutch to help me stay off the alcohol.

I'm a smoker and I am seriously thinking about quitting today. I am having medical problems and the only way to get rid of it is to stop smoking. It isn't easy though.

 

I understand. Even when I first started to smoke cigarettes I used to get sick all the time. I don't know what made me keep going. All I know is, I'm sick and tired of it now.

 

Great Post!

BEAUTY, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO QUIT! Please do it for you and your loved ones. Don't let them suffer either, because they do.

-DG724

Eesh, judgmental, aren't we?

 

The only reason I ever took up smoking, and I smoke only occasionally, is because I'm a recovering alcoholic, and this is one practice that is most common with people trying to overcome substance addictions. It helps you deal with the cravings for your drug of choice. So, in the short term, it serves a greater purpose.

 

I've been using cigs for a year, now, but am in NO WAY addicted to them. If every cigarette fell off the face of the earth, I would be fine. It's just a crutch to help me stay off the alcohol.

Judgemental, NO! I'm sick of watching this person killing themself especially when the family relies on this person. And in my opinion replacing one bad habit with another probably isn't the best way to go about dealing with an addiction. I do commend you for cutting out alcohol but you should write everytime you want a cigerette. It keeps your hands busy. Or chew sugarfree gum, theres not much harm in either of those options.

-DG724

Just because it's THEIR CHOICE, it makes it OK?? Thats not true, this person has a responsiblity to stay healthy and keep the family financially together, and everyday it gets worse and worse and all because of a deady addiction.

 

-DG724

I didn't say it made it ok, but still. You simply can't force someone to stop, so why waste your anger and breath on it.

Take note that everything I wrote in my original post happens EVERYDAY multiple times a day. (The Painful coughing and gagging is a reoccurring event) and it IS in the smoker's control to quit, it's just a matter of if youre strong enough to want to do it, and if you aren't then what will it take for you to stop...

I didn't say it made it ok, but still. You simply can't force someone to stop, so why waste your anger and breath on it.

If you see a family member of yours standing on the edge of a bridge about to jump, would you preach and beg for them to come off the edge...EXACTLY MY POINT.

I have personal reasons why I am not going to answer that question.

I am just saying, you cant make peoples decisions for them. You can only advise and TRY to help them.

But keep going, dont give up your fight on this.

I am not a smoker, and think it is disgusting too - my grandfather died of lung cancer (he quite when my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, but it still led to lung cancer many years later), my father smokes and he looks 30 years older for it and is in bad health....BUT, it IS an addiction. And addiction is a hard thing to beat in any form.

My brother smoked for several years. He was addicted, tried to quit many times. However, he often turned to it to avoid other destructive habits (alcohol, drugs - we have a predisposition for alcoholism on one side of the family) and so it was a lesser evil. It is easy to say he could of written a journal or chewed gum instead, but the reality is that this would not have worked for him at the time. When he was finally READY to quit, with the support of family and his partner, he finally did. I can guarantee if we were on him about it, it would not of encouraged him to quit any sooner.

People quit when they are finally ready to, and it can take many tries, or it can be the first try. I don't think it is fair to judge them for it.

Of course I am fortunate that I live somewhere where there is an indoor smoking ban and none of my friends smoke either so I don't need to worry too much about it (except when I pass them smoking and start gagging...).

If you see a family member of yours standing on the edge of a bridge about to jump, would you preach and beg for them to come off the edge...EXACTLY MY POINT.

lol I'm not arguing with you. My Step father was on his death bed, cancer, dyalisis, heart attack, and mulitple strokes, and still wouldn't quit smoking a pack a day. We begged, pleaded, cried, etc......he didn't want to quit. So he didn't.

BEAUTY, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO QUIT! Please do it for you and your loved ones. Don't let them suffer either, because they do.

 

-DG724

Yes, I know. Plus, cigarettes go up every week. It's ridiculous.

I'm tired of doing stupid, unhealthy things. I really am. It is going to be hard, but what in life isn't.

hey~ I am a smoker also, just started relatively recently.. now I'm pretty dependent on it... I have an extremely addictive personality.. and easily get addicted to things.. drinking... candy... video games... pretty much anything thats pleasurable, I can quickly obsess over them easily....

I don't see it as a long term sort of thing, but rather as just a stage of addiction I'm in..and will be moving out of... I know people hate it, and I really could careless....

as for your claims that people have control, and that its a choice... thats not always the case... just because you seemingly have control over your body, is not always the case for other people... and by assuming that everyone is like you, is going to cause some problems..

It always comes down to cost/benfits... in my current situation... of high stress and lack of "awakeness" for classes.. its great to wake me up, and get me to pay attention and to keep me going in class... when I don't need that anymore, than I'll just move on to something else.... So until smoking becomes more costly than beneficial.. then the smoker will stop.. atleast thats the way I view it?