People think that to give up smoking, all they have to do would be to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are a variety of products available, many over-the-counter, that give an ample supply of replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. nikotiini pussit The reason people continue to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.

In this article, we will look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.

The Nicotine Style of Smoking

Back the 1990’s, nicotine got labeled as a highly addictive substance. It was blamed for the reason why people find it hard to quit smoking. Yet, using tobacco does not fit the definition of a chemical addiction.

In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps an individual smoking. It followed that if nicotine could be provided from the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the new source of nicotine could possibly be gradually reduced as time passes until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.

This would be a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the real driving force to smoke cigars. However, if there is various other reason people smoke, including the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will not be a highly effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.

The Research

Two products that follow the chemical addiction model of using tobacco are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do just what they say; they provide a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous amounts of nicotine, that they are supposedly craving, the patches ought to be incredibly effective and remove the desire to have a cigarette. But how effective are they?

Some research shows, (Davidson, M., Epstein, M., Burt, R., Schaefer, C., Whitworth, G. & McDonald, A. (1998)), only 19% of individuals on nicotine patches had stopped smoking at six weeks and it was reduced to 9.2% at half a year. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at six months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of those that had stopped were back at it again.

The results for the gum was a comparable. Despite the fact that the gum was providing the smoker with plenty of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of individuals were still smoking and at six months, 92% were smoking.

The research showed that the 8% – 9% of the people who had stop smoking utilizing the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to give up smoking! Put simply, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

A Real Life Example

A radio host was interviewing me concerning the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he explained that he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to give up also it had taken him 2 yrs until he was finally from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!

Consider that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a big supply of nicotine just as it is designed to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. In other words, the gum, loaded with nicotine was not substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical should have done.

Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after two years. But it wasn’t the gum, it had been him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Just like the 8% – 9% of the people in the research study mentioned above.

Nicotine is Not the Motivator to Smoke

The volume of nicotine a smoker gets in a single cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to your body mass; it’s tiny and so is the amount of nicotine it contains.

However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum are loaded with nicotine. That’s what they are designed to do; put adequate nicotine into the smokers system to, theoretically at the very least, replace the necessity to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they are getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all of this extra nicotine do?

Based on the American Lung Association, side effects with the nicotine patch are:

Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine does have an impact on the smokers body. However, with all the current things that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce the effects mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.

Conclusion

If you pass the nicotine model to give up smoking, you will definitely be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to remove the Psychological Smoking Mechanism by using proven, psychological techniques. Once the mechanism is fully gone, so is smoking.

� Copyright 2010, R. Michael Stone

R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor

33 years experience with subconscious communication and subconscious programming techniques.

Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System? – The program that gives you the powerful psychological tools necessary to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program can help you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Learn how this program may help you permanently remove cigarettes from your life.