Smoking is more than a physical addiction... (nicotine, diet, smokers) - Mental Health -Mental well-being and mental disorders - City-Data Forum

Kristaleigh · 08-02-2008, 01:05 PM

Hello all... this is for people who smoke or have quit. I have found that smoking is almost compulsary. It's not just about the physiological addiction that makes your body/brain crave more chemicals. I'm talking about the "feeling" you get when you smoke. If you've never smoked you wouldn't understand. It's like it fills some type of void but I'm not sure why. It's almost some type of emotional void. It makes me feel a way that I can't put my finger on. It's almost like a buffer between you and other things/people when you have a cig in your hand versus it just bein' you and trying to think or talk. I look forward to it even though I feel guilty about my health. It't similiar to what you go through when you're on a diet and even though you eat (healthier) food and maybe feel full, there's this emotiomal void (talking to emotional eaters) that can only be filled with happiness when you eat bad food - maybe because you feel a sense of freedom - even though you're actually a slave to it - just like cigarettes. Any thoughts? Anyone know what I'm talking about?

pitt_transplant · 08-02-2008, 04:43 PM

Yeh..I know what you are talking about.

It was more severe when I was eating a crappy diet.
I improved the way I ate and it improved my mood. Of course most doctors are just going to toss anyone a pill because its easier than turning your nutrition around and it takes longer.

The feeling reminds me of what it feels like to run a mile as fast as you can and just sitting there afterwards in the sun.

Try exercise and healthy foods to fill the void. Drugs are just a trickery to what your body and mind actually needs.

ShepsMom · 08-02-2008, 04:49 PM

Very possible, to me a cigarette was a 'boredom" escape, nothing more, nothing less. I had to join the gym after i quit, that filled up a lot of boring hours which i was spending with a cigarette instead. So yes, it is more then just a nicotine addictions. You have to "fill" that empty spot, that cigarettes fill in, with something else, it will be so much more easier for one to quit.

TrishP7 · 08-02-2008, 04:53 PM

Wow..i don't smoke but its interesting to read your posts and the feeling that you guys share.

ino · 08-03-2008, 08:48 PM

I've been a smoker since I was around 13-14 years old, (am now 58), and several years ago I got a job driving a bulk fuel truck and found that as I could not smoke while on the job it only fazed me for a short time as I was constantly on the move. I would smoke during lunch break, (when and where possible), and after work only. I could, and should, have given it up back then I suppose but what the hell, I'm going to die of something so I may as well accept responsibility for it and let it be by my own hand, a bloke's entitled to have one sin, and this is mine I guess. I have since changed employment, but it was not due to the non-smoking environment. If one has no choice I found that it's quite amazing how the need, or craving, does not enter the equation and I accepted it readily and surprisingly quickly. Keeping the mind and hands active I found to be a key components!

Nancy in Nokomis · 08-03-2008, 09:28 PM

I smoked for ten years and quite 15 years ago and know what you mean. You need to fill up all the extra time with something else - exercise, chewing gum, sex....

Anyway I know if I took one puff I would be totally hooked again - it was also a physical addition for me - I still love the smell of someone smoking

Morale Officer · 08-04-2008, 12:34 AM

At work we always said, "Junkie See, Junkie Do." We finally started calling our smoke breaks "union breaks" (there is no union where I worked) and announcing them over the PA so that we all at least went at once instead of constantly being at the table in the bay. It's a social thing...and you're right...non-smokers don't understand. lol.