People think that to quit smoking, all they need to do would be to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are numerous 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 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 people find it hard to give up smoking. Yet, using tobacco does not fit this is of a chemical addiction.
In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps an individual smoking. It followed that if nicotine could possibly be provided from a 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 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. However, if you have some other reason people smoke, like the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will not be an effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the effectiveness 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 precisely what they say; they provide a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker gets generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and take away the desire for 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 and 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. Nikotiinipussit Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.
The outcomes 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! Quite simply, they were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A Real Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me concerning the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he told me he was an ex-smoker. He said he had used nicotine gum to give up and it had taken him two years until he was finally off of cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
Think about that for an instant. 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. In other words, the gum, packed with nicotine was not substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical must have done.
Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after two years. But it wasn’t the gum, it was 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 a single cigarette is very small. Compare the cigarette to your system mass; it’s tiny and so is the amount of nicotine it contains.
However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum contain nicotine. That’s what they are made to do; put adequate nicotine in to 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’re getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all of this extra nicotine do?
According to 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 your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the current things 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 likely to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of 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 gives you the powerful psychological tools essential to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program helps you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program will let you permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.