I want to dig in on my theories for addiction a bit. This is going to be another “spectrum” thing.
People are addicted to cigarettes. Wrong.
People are addicted to the things that cigarettes do for them, and sometimes one persons side effects are another persons high. There are individual identification points that lead into addiction. Here are the things we can get addicted to that cigarettes have.
- the taste of the tobacco
- the feeling of hitting it
- the pull of the smoke
- the feeling of inhaling
- the feeling of exhaling
- the effect of the nicotine
- the benefit for socializing
- Taking a break from whatever bullshits going on at that moment
- communicating with others who smoke
- looking cool
- OCD
Once we have identified all of the things that make smoking appealing, we can start to cross off the things that are not part of the reason why you still smoke as a habit. This requires a person to be truly honest with themselves.
the taste of the tobacco- the feeling of hitting it
the pull of the smoke- the feeling of inhaling
the feeling of exhaling- the effect of the nicotine
- the benefit for socializing
- Taking a break from whatever bullshits going on at that moment
communicating with others who smoke- looking cool
- OCD
Personally, I think this says I am susceptible to inhalant addiction and I shouldn’t be so antisocial. I can use that to avoid doing dumb stuff in the future, or work towards bettering myself on other fronts. It also lets me focus on creating a specialized solution to the problem that I’m facing, which is way easier than trying to use an off the shelf solution that encompasses more than I need.
I did this with vodka – I never stopped going to the bar when I sobered up. Taking away more than you need to when adjusting can create a resentment towards the factors surrounding it. I can’t make the world spin in a different direction because I needed to change. My community wasn’t going to change its routine so I can socialize freely without worrying about slipping up. “Don’t put yourself in a bad situation” is a bullshit statement when you live in an area that is known worldwide for the amount of alcohol it has in it. Thankfully there’s a huge market for marijuana too, which contributed to saving my life.
My point is, you can quit smoking cigarettes if you do something else, or something. I don’t know, I’m high.