The 4 lies that won't let you quit smoking

Tobacco is the most popular addiction in the world, far outperforming all other drugs combined. Of course, when something is legal, the perception of dangerousness among consumers greatly decreases.

Beyond this, there are some uncomfortable truths about tobacco use, such as:

• Tobacco kills about half of the people who use it.

• Annually, more than 8 million people die due to tobacco use. Of these, just over 7 million of the deaths are caused by direct consumption, and about 1.2 Millions are indirect deaths as a result of involuntary exposure to smoke emitted by the cigars

These are data from the World Health Organization. In addition to these truths, there are a series of lies that tobacco profiteers use to keep people hooked and keep making money at your expense. In this article I discuss some of the most popular misconceptions about tobacco.

• Related article: "The 14 most important types of addictions"

The 4 tobacco lies that keep you addicted

If you smoke, you probably believe these myths about tobacco addiction.

1. Do you like to smoke

This is undoubtedly the most widespread lie of all. Millions of people around the world believe for sure that they enjoy the action of smoking. However, if someone asks them if they would buy their children their first pack of cigarettes, they all answer no.

The Hollywood movie industry has also promoted and perpetuated the belief that smoking is enjoyable. As you read this, surely a multitude of mythical characters who used tobacco during their adventures come to mind, associating ideas such as success, strength, sensuality ...

However, if we put aside all that misleading decoration and advertising, we find that the cigarette itself contributes absolutely nothing to the person who uses it (except emptying his pocket and filling his lungs with poison). It is an addictive process disguised as pleasure.

2. It relax you

Cigarettes are packed with a multitude of stimulant substances that promote addiction. From a chemical point of view, smoking tobacco only stresses more.

It is true that many people experience a subjective sense of relaxation. But this does not happen because tobacco relaxes them, but because the nicotine withdrawal syndrome is calmed.

Nicotine is the addictive substance that keeps people smoking non-stop. 30 minutes after lighting the cigarette and administering the dose of the drug, the levels of nicotine in the blood begin to decrease, because the body begins to eliminate this substance from the body.

Our brain, when detecting that nicotine levels in the blood decrease, activates the withdrawal syndrome or "monkey". They are unpleasant bodily sensations (similar to hunger) to motivate the person to seek more nicotine than administered (in the same way that the brain moves us to look for more food when it detects low levels of glucose in blood).

By administering nicotine, we do not feel relaxation from daily stress or a bad day at work. We only feel the relief of the withdrawal syndrome or mono that the previous cigarette has produced us. Y with each cigarette, the process begins again. This is explained by the addiction caused by nicotine.

That's why most smokers can't go much longer than an hour or two without taking their drug. Looking for relief from physical discomfort that they continually cause themselves.

3. You will get fat if you let it

Quitting smoking does not harm your metabolism. On the contrary, it heals it. The reason some people get fat when they quit smoking is simple: they feel the discomfort of withdrawal syndrome for the first few days, this makes them feel stressed, and they eat more food (or with more fat) to calm that subjective feeling of stress.

People get fat because they use food to relieve stress: it is not quitting smoking that makes them gain weight.

• You may be interested: "The effects of tobacco on the brain"

4. I can stop smoking whenever I want

If this were true, smokers would no longer exist.

The smokers they use this excuse to maintain a feeling and image of control. The reality is that they do not feel they have the resources to be able to quit smoking, and they often feel fear and shame at the possibility of trying to quit smoking and failing.

That is why they prefer to say that they do not really want to quit smoking. The sad reality is that they often feel helpless.

Quitting is simple, if you know how

Willpower is not enough, otherwise there would be no smokers in the world. The best thing you can do is contact a professional to guide you through the process and help you take the most appropriate steps in your case.

I am an addiction psychologist, and I work with people every day who want to feel free from tobacco addiction again. I also offer an online smoking cessation course, which only my subscribers have access to. To know more about my services, visit my website luismiguelreal.es