Every year during the Great American Smokeout, the American Cancer Society encourages current smokers to give up smoking entirely, to quit “cold turkey.” Events range from cigarette exchange programs to awareness efforts, all planned to help convince smokers to drop their harmful habit. It occurred to me a few weekends ago, however, that perhaps it isn’t that smokers don’t realize the merit in quitting-perhaps there just isn’t enough being done to let them know how best to quit.

We all know that smoking is addictive, but what I realized this weekend was that so many habits we engage in every day are addictive too. Yes, nicotine has physiological addictive properties, but perhaps it is the psychological effects of smoking that makes it so hard to stop.

I ran my first half marathon a few weekends ago and as I scanned the crowds of runners around me I started to notice that runners and smokers had more in common than I had previously thought: we couldn’t stop. Running is addictive too, and yes, after Sunday, I can officially say I am an addict. I love every bit of it-the way my heart beat quickens, the smell of the outdoors, the pounding sensation as my feet hit the pavement, and on a nice day, the sunshine-all of it makes me feel great. Not to mention, at the end of a run I experience an incredible high due to the endorphins that are pumping through my body. As I paced through the first few miles, I realized that an addiction to running is no different from the rest. Who was I to judge?

Addicts of all kinds-drinkers, gamblers and smokers alike-have difficulty quitting because we are inclined to continue doing something that “feels good.” In fact, our brains have been specifically engineered to respond to pleasurable stimuli in such a way that we repeat behaviors that result in feelings of happiness. Thus, my vice of running that promotes good health and someone else’s habit of smoking, which is often linked to emphysema, lung and mouth cancers and increased risk of heart attack and/or stroke, actually operate under similar psychological principles.

While there are several physiological components to addiction, it seems far more interesting to examine the issue from a psychological perspective: Why would someone stop a behavior that produces feelings of happiness? Not only is that illogical, it also goes against several years of evolution that have designed our neural pathways to respond positively to pleasurable activities. Thus, it would be unfair to judge a smoker without fully considering just how difficult it is to give up something that has such pleasurable side effects.

To address the psychological components of smoking it is best that behavioral therapy be used in conjunction with medications. Often times it is not enough to target the habit itself because there are underlying needs and issues that encourage the smokers to keep engaging in the activity. For one thing it feels good, and if there is anything history has taught us, it’s that humans continually seek things that encourage feelings of well-being. Counseling can be helpful because trained therapists will be able to provide healthy ways to deal with stress or to fill the emotional voids that smoking currently accomplishes for smokers. For students looking to quit, I would recommend contacting Besty Foy MHS, CHES at 935-7386. Foy is a smoking cessation expert and a coordinator of alcohol and drug programs at the Habif Health and Wellness Center.

In addition to counseling sessions, Foy recommends several over-the-counter medications that quell the physiological side effects of nicotine. Nicotine, the active substance in tobacco products, acts on both the peripheral and central nervous systems, increasing heart rate and blood pressure while simultaneously improving mood. The central nervous system contains several neurotransmitters, which are all activated upon the ingestion of nicotine. Nicotine stimulates the release of several “feel good” hormones (not too different from those I experience after running) including norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. In fact, many people have likened the effects of nicotine to those of antidepressant medications.

After habitual use, the body becomes dependent on nicotine, craving it uncontrollably. If smoking is stopped altogether, as is encouraged during the Great American Smokeout, a smoker will most definitely experience severe symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms include, but are not limited to drowsiness, lightheadedness, headache, muscle tremors, nausea, difficulty sleeping, weight gain, mood swings and difficulty concentrating.

To combat these physiological side effects, Foy recommends trying different drugs and finding the best combination for your body. Options include Chantix (which stops cravings in about three months), Zyban and nicotine replacement therapies.

“Different people find different things work better for them in their attempts to quit,” said Foy. “There is no one thing that is best for everyone”

I hope that if you are a smoker interested in quitting this article was helpful and I wish you the best of luck on that path (now if only I could quit running.).

Information for this Article was provided by Thomas F. Oltmanns and Robert E. Emery’s Abnormal Psychology text as well as Betsy Foy, MHS, CHES assistant director at Student Health Services and coordinator of Alcohol and Other Drug Programs for the Habif Health and Wellness Center.

Popularity: 1% [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.