4 Answers

  1. The question concerns several disciplines-psychology, biology, neurophysiology and possibly some other disciplines. I will answer from the point of view of psychology.

    Quitting smoking can be difficult due to many factors. As a rule, all factors can be divided into internal and external.

    External factors include:

    • Environment. If there are a lot of people who smoke around you and you can't isolate yourself from them then it will be more difficult for you to stop smoking
    • Busyness. If you have a “nervous” job and you relax and relieve psychological tension with a cigarette, then this will be your “anchor”, which will create certain difficulties.
    • Methods. Most methods of quitting smoking are based on the use of willpower. However, with this method of quitting smoking, people continue to experience a suppressed desire and very often light up again. As statistics show, limiting the number of cigarettes only through willpower does not eliminate the cause of smoking. As a result, the main task of quitting smoking remains unresolved.

    Internal factors include:

    • Attention. This is your ability to manage attention, and the effectiveness of using the current smoking cessation technique depends on it.
    • Reflection. Your abilities in introspection during activities. Reflection helps you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it.
    • Awareness. It is based on the use of self-awareness, develops subjectivity, allows you to build an internal management system that is independent of external stimuli, and allows a person to change in a psychological sense.

    Dear author of the question “Why is it difficult to quit smoking?” I would be grateful if you write in the comments about whether this information helped you.

  2. When a physical addiction is formed, each cigarette causes a surge of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for memory (which is why smoking habits are so vivid and graphic), attention, active satisfaction with yourself and life, brightness of perception, and many other things.�

    Moreover, between cigarettes, the amount of dopamine released decreases relative to the average level of a non-smoker.�

    And the brain becomes convinced that smoking is a basic organic need, like food and water. This confidence cannot be overcome by will, because it is physiologically justified. Many people who quit smoking tell us that they suddenly came up with the strangest arguments about why they should smoke, which affected them so much that if they had a cigarette directly available, they would light it (and those who had one would light it).�

    That is, the answer is: because the brain believes that without this habit you will not survive, and is ready to do anything to make you smoke again.

  3. Good afternoon!

    Smoking takes away freedom, health, money, but many people in the world continue to smoke day after day.

    Just the thought of having to give up a cigarette causes a strong subconscious fear.

    What's the catch, then?

    The fact is that the psychological causes of smoking are chronic dissatisfaction with one of the basic needs of an individual.

    By inhaling smoke, the smoker creates the illusion of temporarily satisfying this need. Therefore, any attempt to quit causes a strong fear, since as a result of refusal, the smoker loses not a cigarette, but a basic psychological need, without which it is difficult for a person to build the reality of the world.

    The reasons for starting smoking are different, this is the desire to relieve stress, the desire to appear an adult to the social circle, the desire to afford a vacation.

    Usually, only one of the basic needs of a smoker is not met.

    Smokers generally do not fully understand which needs are not being met, and over time they lose touch with the reasons why they started.

    If you stop smoking with the help of willpower but leave the need unsatisfied, then the person will return to tobacco again.

    In addition, the smoker builds a strong belief system around his connection to cigarettes and the lack of satisfaction of one of the basic needs, which allows you to maintain addiction. For example, they may believe that” it's hard to quit”,” smoking is a high”, “I'm not capable of it”.

    The smoker's belief system is so strong that any attempt to upset the balance causes even greater reinforcement and protection.

    This whole belief system is sometimes so deeply embedded in the subconscious mind that it has a profound effect on perception.

    As a result, on the one hand, the basic need is not met, on the other hand, there is a strong “armor” from the belief system.

  4. From my experience, this is difficult mainly because of two reasons: physiology and psychology.

    * it is physically difficult to quit because the body becomes addicted to nicotine, and it (the body) constantly requires compensation for this. there are thousands of articles on this topic, up to the biochemical mechanism of addiction.

    •the second factor, as for me, is crucial, because the desire to light a cigarette, let out the first portion of smoke, shake off the ash, see how far to the filter, have become a strong habit. a favorite habit.

    Plus, it is much easier and more comfortable for asthenics (dolichomorphs) to live “through a cigarette”, creating the illusion of employment when the moment of awkwardness or silence comes.

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