People think that to quit smoking, all they have to do is to replace the nicotine provided by the cigarette. There are a number of products on the market, many over-the-counter, that provide an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue to smoke is because of the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not a need for nicotine.
In this article, we shall look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.
The Nicotine Model of Smoking
Back in the 1990’s, nicotine got called a highly addictive substance. It was blamed for the reason people think it is hard to give up 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 the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the source of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the new source of nicotine could possibly be gradually reduced over time until the 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 there is various other reason people smoke, such as 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 model of cigarette smoking are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do precisely what they say; they provide a very ample supply of nicotine. Because the smoker gets generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and remove 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 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 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.
The outcomes for the gum was about the same. Despite the fact that 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 study showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had quit smoking utilizing the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to quit smoking! Put simply, they were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.
A GENUINE Life Example
A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he told me that he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to quit and it had taken him two years until he was finally off of cigarettes. TWO YEARS!
parhaat nikotiinipussit Think about that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a big supply of nicotine in the same way it is designed to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Put simply, the gum, packed with nicotine had not been substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical must have done.
Since the man wished to quit, he finally stopped after 2 yrs. But it wasn’t the gum, it had been him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Similar to 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 body mass; it’s tiny and so is the level of nicotine it contains.
However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum contain nicotine. That’s what they are designed to do; put adequate nicotine into the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they are getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?
Based on 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 your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine has an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the things that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. This is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.
Conclusion
If you go by the nicotine model to give up smoking, you will be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of proven, psychological techniques. Once 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? – The program that provides you the powerful psychological tools essential to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program can help you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Learn how this program will let you permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.