Smoking Mythbusting: The Realities of The Smoking Methods

When smoking is discussed, most people seem to have in mind the image of filtered cigarettes as the main item that people use to consume tobacco. For some unknown reason, other types of smoking – such as using a pipe and rolling your own cigarettes – do not attract quite the same amount of disdain as their orange-filtered cousins, when in reality all are as bad as each other. Any way of consuming tobacco, nicotine and the associated chemicals that are inhaled with every breath should be frowned upon.

It is not just non-smokers who focus their energies on regular cigarettes. Some smokers, particularly younger ones, believe that there is a definite separation between self-rolled cigarettes and pipes when compared to regular cigarettes. Sometimes, this belief stems from the fact they are ‘less harmful’ – a worrying, and untrue, distinction.

It is not tobacco itself – the crisp substance that is used to fill cigarettes, pipes and rolling papers alike – that is the problem with smoking. The issue is the chemicals that are inhaled in to the lungs; the manner in which these chemicals are inhaled is largely irrelevant. No smoking apparatus – be it a filtered, standard cigarette, a pipe or a rolling paper – is ‘better’ than the others. The only main difference is to cost, with tobacco for pipes and rolling papers tending to be cheaper, but the health benefits are non-existent. The fact remains that any type of smoking can be damaging to health, so switching to a different method of smoking is nothing but a waste of time.

Removing The Links Will Aid Your Effort

The mental effort that it takes to give up smoking is well-known. It is certainly increased by keeping links to your recent status as a smoker – so giving up will take a little bit of a change in mentality. If, for example, you keep ashtrays lying around – even clean, unused ones which can be used by visitors – then you will be more compelled to smoke.

A lot depends on how much you used to smoke. If smoking was a major part of your life before – you used cigarettes to enhance your enjoyment of music, socializing or similar – then breaking the bond that it has over you is going to be all the more problematic. You may find that listening to the same albums and going to the same bars or clubs becomes a major temptation, even if you cannot smoke indoors in those clubs.

The psychological compulsion to smoke is probably the hardest part to get past. So keeping lighters and ashtrays around, or reading books about central characters who like to smoke pretty much incessantly is going to make giving up a lot harder. It is best to keep reminders to a minimum. This is not to say you should shun your best friend if they still smoke, but it might be a good idea to request of them that they keep their smoking to a minimum when they are around you. In the end you can’t close yourself off from all reminders, but limiting them will help.

The Mental Barriers To Giving Up

Everyone who has tried to give up smoking has faced the full gamut of demons that can stop you from making a clean break. There are so many of them that it makes smoking cessation seem like an insurmountable obstacle. It really isn’t, though, and if you are resolute you can overcome the issues.

A lot of people are concerned that their appetite, and as a result their weight, will increase if they give up smoking. This is not necessarily true. While cigarettes are an appetite suppressant, the fact is that going on food binges as a result of giving up is not guaranteed. Your appetite may increase, but only if you are idle will it result in binges.

If you find things to take up your time, you will deal with the psychological desire to eat. Eating healthily at meal times will take away a lot of the physical compulsion to over eat, and the increase in appetite from smoking cessation is usually short-lived.

Similarly, people worry that when they give up smoking, they will replace it with another vice like alcohol. This is a danger. Replacing the buzz of cigarettes by increasing alcohol intake does happen – but the truth of the matter is that this compulsion is relatively short-lived, and getting over the initial problem is something that can be achieved if you are ready to fight.

Most of the barriers to smoking cessation are mental – if you are ready to take on the mental fight, then you will be successful.

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