Why don't people want to quit smoking?
To clarify a bit the question: I have been browsing the quit smoking Facebook groups and noticed some patterns:
1. they try to use another substance to quit nicotine
2. they try to use another type of smoking with less negative consequences than usual cigarettes
3. they don't do any research
4. they give each other advices that are profoundly false
And probably the most important thing, they utterly ignore the fact that addiction is mostly a psychological problem and is cured by using psychology.
To my shock, even patients with COPD, scared and staring death in the face do not want to use a program to help them quit.
How is this possible? I really do not understand how people try everything to quit smoking, except what actually is proven scientifically that works.
Do you know somebody like this, can you provide some input? What would it take to educate people to use psychology to quit smoking?
Hi Daniel, and thanks for your comments.
For a simple answer, my thought is someone will quit smoking when THEY are ready to quit. For some, it would appear, there is no outside influence they will be receptive to and so, they continue with the habit. For those who do accept an outside influence, they seem to be ready at that point.
What do you think?
Besides the Facebook groups you've visited, you may be interested in the material we have published, right here on COPD.net, which focus on quitting smoking. For your convenience, here is a link to those articles: https://copd.net/search?s=quit%20smoking.
Wishing you well,
Leon (site moderator COPD.net)
I do know someone like this. Me. I'm not sure what you mean by "using psychology" to quit. I will tell you this, and I am an absolute authority on it. There is only one way to quit an addiction that is proven, and it only has a 2% success rate. That way is the 12 steps of AA, developed in the 1930's by Bill W. and Dr. Bob. I'm a proponent of that program, and proof it works, as I am now more than 32 years clean and sober from alcohol and drugs. Yet, interestingly, I did not give up smoking until last year. This is after over 50 years of smoking. I started at age 11, a year before I began drinking. Had I been wise enough, I'd have quit the smoking when I quit the other addictions. But I liked the smoking. Why? Nicotine is by far the most addictive substance on Earth, far more so than any other. I watched my Mom slowly waste away from COPD and die, still smoking till the last, while never even pausing my own smoking for twenty more years! WTF? Even though I knew what was coming. That is the power of it. So here I sit at my desk at home, forcibly retired, typing this with a cannula in my nose 24 hours a day. The 12 steps were not enough for me by themselves. For nicotine, it took fear too. When I found myself unable to breathe, the fear was finally strong enough, and (having already been trained in the 12 steps) I quit, right there on the spot, that day, and it was easy. Too late, but still.
The insanity of it all is a true phenomenon to witness, but we see it every day. Now my youngest son and his fiancé come to visit, and I have to tell them to go outside to smoke. They still don't get it. I hope I can convince them while I'm still here.
The answer to your question? I think that if you had a program where people could be hooked up to a device that would stop them from breathing for long enough for them to feel that fear, that might work. That's all I got. I don't think anything else will.Daniel, don't let anyone guilt you into thinking you deserve having COPD as a punishment because you smoked. It's not bad smoker versus nice non-smoker. Maybe it's a power greater then yourself that needs a little help from your friends. Absolutely! Addiction and COPD are two completely separate issues. COPD is a medical condition, a disease. Addiction is a behavioral disorder. Not all smokers get COPD, or cancer, and not all people with those diseases have any addictions.
I don't know that it's been determined that smoking doesn't primarily involve an addiction to nicotine. Did you know that there is an actual task force that determines the effectiveness of tobacco cessation programs insurance providers are mandated to provide under the ACA? It's called the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF). If you look at their findings about effectiveness of tobacco cessation programs, it seems a combination of counselling, and pharmacology has had the best results. I don't know how well insurance companies are implementing this coverage, but at least something is provided for smokers trying so hard to quit.
Nope. Addiction cannot be cured using psychology, and there are no successful "cessation" programs for smoking in any combination of medication and/or method. Addiction cannot be cured at all, ever. There is one behavioral modification program that produces up to a whopping 2% success rate in quitting any addiction, including nicotine, and that is the 12 steps of AA. This is absolute proven fact, and there is no evidence whatsoever that any other existing method has ever worked, even one time. Anyone who would like to learn more can simply read a Big Book or attend an AA meeting to find the answers they seek. Please understand that I am not promoting AA in any way, I'm just stating the facts as they are. The simple fact is that there is no other way to beat any addiction. Period. Any trustworthy doctor or health professional who knows what they are talking about can verify this.
