Quote from: Lyric on May 25, 2014, 02:12:56 PM
I've never understood why people deliberately barbeque their own lungs. There's nothing that's not completely idiotic and stupid about smoking. Find some way to stop doing it and stay that way. Unforch, nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs on Earth, so expect to struggle for year or two, but there's absolutely nothing you can do that will be better for yourself than that.
I wasn't going to respond to this, but I can't help it. As someone who recently quit, this is not helpful. We know its bad for us, but we hear all the negatives all the time. Is tobacco addictive? Yes. Some people have no problem with it and some people do. It's a lot like alcohol in that regard.
If you have never smoked, congrats. But don't look down on people who do. This is so frustrating about western society and moreso from Americans. Tobacco built America and any American who denies that is not taking years of history into account. There are a lot of reasons people start smoking. Like Jay pointed out, it isn't a "choice". No one wants to be addicted to anything. "Addict" is a nasty word and a terrible label, and a lot of smokers have had that kind of negativity thrown at then by people who think "I didnt do something so nasty, so I'm better than you". From ex-smokers it's worse. I've heard ex-smokers tell me that I'm a degenerate, weak, pathetic... The whole 9 yards.
Is smoking bad? Of course. But then if you look at the longest lived people in the world, the Japanese, they smoke like the world is ending tomorrow. Somehow they still live to be 90 years old and die of natural causes unrelated to smoking. I'm not saying it will make you live longer. I am saying that how it's demonized by westerners is a little extreme. For the record, I'm American and I grew up hearing that if I ever put a cigarette in my mouth I should just pop a gun in there and pull the trigger.
There are a lot of things that are not tobacco related that are dangerous. Drinking too much soda/coffee/alcohol, binge eating, restrictive eating, no exercise, too much exercise, watching TV/being on the Internet (smart phone addiction is awful), sex and porn addiction... All these things are destructive as well. Saying that tobacco is more addictive than meth or heroine is naive. My mother put down cigarettes years ago, but when she's that needle she goes crazy. She went through drug detox 5 times before she got clean. Am I being an ass? Probably. But that holier than thou attitude is why I hate going home.
To the OP: it's hard. I'm not gonna lie to ya my friend. But, here's the encouraging news: if I quit you can. I can see a tobacco shop from my balcony. It's cheaper here than anywhere in the rest of the 1st world nations. The first week is rough and as a writer, it about killed me creatively. I had four really bad days; numbers 3, 5, 7 and 10. After the first 5-7 days the nicotine is out of your system. By day 10 my craving was completely mental and I gargled mouthwash and did 50 push-ups. Find something to replace it with. It doesn't have to be oral either. I started playing guitar and knitting again. I am having no trouble writing anymore. I wrote two full length 6000+ word chapters in my second novel and an article in a week without smoking. I feel better, I think I look better, I had enough energy to deep clean my whole apartment including my tatami in the bedroom. Stick with it. You don't have to battle with addiction for years or go through physical withdrawals forever. That's ridiculous. After a month I think about it but that's as far as it goes. It's a "a smoke would be nice... Lets do 100 push-ups! Gotta get those pecs built up for surgery!"
