Types of Smokers

Types of Smokers

There are three main aspects of smoking. If you understand why you smoke, you will have a better chance to adopt appropriate strategies to cease your smoking behaviour.

The reasons why smokers keep smoking are:

  1. Chemical addiction
  2. Habit
  3. Psychological dependency

You may smoke primarily for one of these reasons, but chances are there will be a combination of all three.

 

 

Chemical Addiction

Nicotine is the highly addictive drug found in tobacco. Signs that you are addicted to nicotine include:

  • the need to have a cigarette soon after you get up in the morning
  • the inability to go for longer than an hour or so without having a cigarette
  • difficulty concentrating without having a cigarette

 

 

Habit

Most smokers have a link between many of their regular daily activities and smoking. Like the other activities, smoking has become a behaviour that may be  very difficult to change. Some of the common links for smokers are:

  • smoking and drinking tea or coffee;
  • smoking and alcoholic beverages;
  • smoking and taking a break from work;
  • smoking after a meal;
  • smoking whilst relaxing watching TV or talking to friends etc.

 

 

Psychological Dependency

Feelings are important to all of us, and smoking behaviour is commonly associated with various moods or feelings. Some of the common feelings associated with cigarette smoking include:

  • coping with stressful situations
  • when feeling tense [helping to relax]
  • other uncomfortable feelings such as: anger, nervousness, self-pity, loneliness, sadness or feeling unloved.

 

 

By considering your reasons for smoking, or by discussing them with your patient/client if you are a health professional. Useful strategies for stopping and staying stopped should be able to be determined. On another page of this site I have some suggested worksheets which should be of assistance here.

The next page of this site is on Medication to assist smokers stopping and staying stopped.

 

 

Web Design Ian McKenzie

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