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Question For Smokers

newtgingrich
This for for the people who responded to the other thread about quitting......Do you think addiction to smoking is more physical or mental ?
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Comments

32 comments

Date Votes
  • Tailgunner1954
    Yes, on several levels
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  • spryor
    Little of each, I'd say.
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  • jbw1776
    quote:Originally posted by spryor
    Little of each, I'd say.


    Both.

    There are times I physically crave a cigarette, like after eating, and then there are times I will light up simply because I'm doing something and I always smoke while doing it. Might not want one but light up out of routine or because I'm suposed to, if that makes sense.

    Ben
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  • Henry0Reilly
    A habit is not exactly the same thing as an addiction.

    Many people who are long since past the physical addiction to nicotine still get "triggered" to reflexively reach for a smoke.
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  • Sav99
    Very physically addictive, and very much a habit. [xx(]
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  • Don McManus
    The physical addiction, which is minor, goes away in a few days.

    The pyschological addiction appears to never leave.

    My father, FWIW, quit smoking at age 28. Up until his death (cancer at age 60) he admitted to having the urge to smoke frequently.
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  • joeaf1911a1
    Please guys, being over 80 let me enjoy a cigar occsionlly. So just maybe I wont see 90 or 100. Next thing I suppose is that I should give up beer and Jack Daniels. Sorry guys, I also will keep eating my bacon, sausage, eggs, fried potatoes, red meat and what ever. If you dont enjoy life, just pack it in now. You cant take it with you.
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  • Kodiakk
    It's all about a routine to me. Not much of a chemical addition.
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  • aglore
    I've been smoking for 43 years now. The funny thing is that I can go on a 15 day Moose hunt and never take a cigarette along. But the first thing I do when I get back is light one up.
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  • jc_crazyhorse
    It's all mental for me. I smoke mostly when I'm bored. And at work, but never at home. Very rarely do I get the craving to smoke.
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  • Rosie
    I quit over 7 years ago and I still want one occasionally.
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  • renneck
    I never smoked after work or on weekends. Only at work. I quit cold turkey 8 months ago and only want one when i work past 9 or 10 p.m. for some reason. I was like Aglore, i could go campin or on vacation for a week and leave them on the table but monday mornin after vacation boy i was lightin up. Now it smells dirty to me but i don't think the ocaasional urge will ever leave.
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  • v35
    It's both physical and mental.It can also be a displacement activity to avoid or delay addressing the issue at hand.
    I had chest spasms after I went cold turkey.
    You also find you have to do something else with your hands to replace the cigarette handling routines you were used to, with coffee, drinking, socializing and following certain other activities.
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  • FrancF
    I find myself doing it out of mental habit. I never wake up at night craving one, and dread firing one up in the morning. I am close to just going cold turkey after 30 years of it.
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  • PATBUZZARD
    I only smoked while deployed. It gave me something to do. Couple in that filthy haji air, well at least while smoking I had a filter between me and the outside air!! LOL
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  • jbw1776
    quote:Originally posted by PATBUZZARD
    I only smoked while deployed. It gave me something to do. Couple in that filthy haji air, well at least while smoking I had a filter between me and the outside air!! LOL


    Good rationale.[:D]

    Ben
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  • dheffley
    90% physical, 10% mental. Glad I got free of it.
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  • oldgunman
    Both! I haven't really smoked steady now for about 20+ years EXCEPT for a few odds and ends now and then and haven't had even that now for maybe 5+ years. When I see a pack of KOOLS the urge is right there again so it is really hard. I do hate myself when I have one and it is very hard to get rid of the ukkky taste if I do. A terrible addicting habit.
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  • mlincoln
    I dipped for 20 some years, only I'd do it for few weeks, then stop for a couple weeks, then a few weeks, etc. Quit for 3 years once and then for 2 years, and have been off it for 3 years now. I still, still, still get the urge. Long drives, after a good meal, while going for a walk, driving home from work, etc. It's a nasty, gross habit, but it is so pleasurable. Got scared I was going to have half my face sawed off, and that's what got me to quit for good (I hope).
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  • JamesRK
    quote:Originally posted by joeaf1911a1
    Please guys, being over 80 let me enjoy a cigar occsionlly. So just maybe I wont see 90 or 100. Next thing I suppose is that I should give up beer and Jack Daniels. Sorry guys, I also will keep eating my bacon, sausage, eggs, fried potatoes, red meat and what ever. If you dont enjoy life, just pack it in now. You cant take it with you.

    joe, believe it or not I found a doctor with the same view of life we have. It ain't easy to find a doctor who smokes. [:D]
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  • spurgemastur
    Based on my smoking patterns, it must be more mental than physical.

    I can go six hours without even thinking about it if I'm involved in something that requires my attention.

    Sit me down with a few beers and I'll smoke ten between 6pm and midnight.
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  • cmd66
    Definitely both.
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  • woodshermit
    Being foolish enough to smoke in the first place is all mental.
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  • spurgemastur
    quote:Originally posted by woodshermit
    Being foolish enough to smoke in the first place is all mental.


    Aren't all sixteen-year-olds mental?
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  • luv_the_huskers
    I smoked for 17 years and quit cold turkey. It has been 4+ years and the urge to smoke is still there and sometimes quite strong. I found after the first week the physical was gone and the mental remained. I think it is akin to being an alcoholic, once one always one.
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  • spotty bobek
    Both mental and physical....cigar and strong coffee first thing in the morning...ahhhh..breakfast of champions.[;)]

    quote:"WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BADGES"
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  • alledan
    According to the American Lung Association, the number one reason for smoking is STRESS. Stress comes in many forms. Define your stress and and deal with it and quitting will be a lot easier.
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  • kimberkid
    quote:Originally posted by Henry0Reilly
    A habit is not exactly the same thing as an addiction.

    Many people who are long since past the physical addiction to nicotine still get "triggered" to reflexively reach for a smoke.


    I'm one of those people ... quit nearly 7 years ago and I still reach and have slight cravings, but they only last a few seconds now.
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  • whompuss
    I found a doctor who smoked. Unfortunately he died of lung cancer after a few years. I quit cold turkey at age 32, I'm 64 now and still breathing well. My wife refused to quit, ssaid occasional smoking wouldn't hurt. She died of cancer on her 62nd birthday.
    Some people like George Burns can smoke until 100, most aren't so lucky.
    ps: after 32 years I still have an occasional urge.
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  • Cyberdyne systems
    I dont smoke, but my father is 85 and he still smokes two packs of Marlboros everyday and goes fishing everyday

    he's been smoking since he was around 13? over 72 years of smoking

    he hasnt been to the doctor since the 1950's
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