Why Is It So Hard To Stop Smoking?

It’s all about dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that’s essential for the function of our central nervous system. It also regulates the brain’s pleasure, addiction and reward systems. We developed our nicotine addiction because nicotine releases dopamine in our brain. This pleasurable substance does many things, including making us feel good and more alert, as well as reducing our anxiety, tension and appetite. Haven’t we all been hungry, and since it wasn’t time to eat, we had a cup of coffee and a cigarette instead? It’s hard to stop smoking because our pleasure and reward systems are activated each time we smoke. When we quit smoking cigarettes, our level of dopamine falls and withdrawal starts.

When we give up smoking, withdrawal will probably start within a few hours. We’ll likely feel anxious, our attention will diminish, we’ll have trouble concentrating and we’ll be impatient. (Guess which day of the year workplace accidents are at their highest – National Non-Smoking Day!) We’ll also feel grumpy (is cranky the same as grumpy?) and depressed, hungry, and although tired, will have trouble sleeping. We’ll probably also have withdrawal headaches. And we will crave a cigarette. These withdrawal symptoms will peak two to three days later, but will tend to improve within the first 10 days of quitting smoking. The bad news is that cigarette cravings can last for years (I can attest to that!). If you give in to the craving, even years later, and think you can have just one cigarette, you are fooling yourself. You will be back to smoking again (I can also attest to that). If you’re a chronic smoker (and smoking is a chronic condition), you usually can’t be an occasional or social smoker.

So how do you beat this habit and stop smoking forever? The Food and Drug Administration believes we are addicted to nicotine, just like an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol or a drug addict is addicted to his drug of choice. It’s just that cigarettes are our drug of choice. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) states: “The essential feature of Substance Dependence is a cluster of cognitive, behavioral and physiological symptoms indicating that the individual continues use of the substance despite significant substance-related problems” (p. 176). Professor John Hughes at the University of Vermont, who is an expert on nicotine dependence, states, “The drug controls you – you don’t control the drug.” Although we don’t become intoxicated or “high” (we can still function), that’s not really the issue. Our dependence is the issue. We ignore our cognitive dissonance (the discomfort we feel when we hold two contradictory ideas simultaneously) and we continue to smoke. Even though we know the benefits of quitting smoking, we continue to smoke. Even though we hear the pleas of our families to stop smoking cigarettes, we continue to smoke.

Just like alcoholics and drug users, we have to take it one day at a time. There are a number of ways to quit smoking; with the use of various stop smoking programs combined with quit smoking products , we can stop smoking for good. Yes we can. But you need to know the war is never really over, because you will face recurring battles in order to succeed and ultimately become a non-smoker.