We smoke for a reason, to fill a void in our lives. The reason many people go back to smoking is because the void is still there after stopping smoking.
The trick is to fill the void, that was there long before you began to smoke. We smoke to cover up anger, sadness, sorrow, guilt, anxiety, lack of love - you get the picture.
The best advice I can give anyone who has an addiction, is to heal what is troubling you, in other words heal the root cause, if you do this, you will no longer need to smoke.
I work at a Drug and Alcohol abuse centre and they have Ear Acupuncture to help them stop (and for other things too), I don't know the success rate (sorry, I will have to ask) as I am only there 1 afternoon a week, but I do know that they leave something in the ear, looks like a pin head in a certain spot for the client to tweak when they feel the urge to smoke.
...The trick is to fill the void...
That's an interesting perspective, and one I have heard of in the treatment of heroin addiction. The [url]Calton Athletic Recovery Group[/url] is a social group and football team made up of recovering addicts. You may recall them from the [url]opening credits[/url] of Trainspotting. They emphasise replacing heroin with healthy activities which help them feel and look good... namely sport and exercise. I know that's not the type of 'void' you are speaking of, but one of the main comments from drug addicts when they give up... is the boredom. Calton Athletic aims to fill that space with football (team sport) and all of its associated social, physical and personal goals.
Ava x
...The trick is to fill the void..
Or you could look at it like this... the void never existed before you started smoking. It is the smoking that created the void. The void appears when the nicotine leaves the system, usually after an hour which is why most people smoke around 20 a day.
So the nicotine addiction AND the psychological addiction to smoking have created this empty feeling or void. If you lose the addictions, both physical and psycholigical, then the void goes with them.
I tried to stop smoking loads of times without letting go of the psychological addiction and it was torture! Each time I would get off the nicotine I was still left with that miserable deprived feeling that I was missing out on smoking. And of course I ended up smoking again, first a borrowed puff, then a borrowed fag and next thing Iwa back buying 20 a day! :rolleyes:
Sorry to ramble on, (I've had wine!) please anyone wanting to to stop smoking give the Allen Carr book or CD a go. I found it fab, a real eye opener and frees you froom the psycholigical addiction by changing the way you think about smoking, why you smoke, why it doesn't make sense and all that....
...honestely, the book makes a whole lot more sense than I am doing here. 😀
Or you could look at it like this... the void never existed before you started smoking...
I think we may be talking about a different type of void - but I understand the point you're making and it sounds reasonable. I've not read Allen Carr's book and am not a smoker, but I have heard other folk speak favorably of it. Well done on giving up - that is excellent - and it's especially nice that you are so enthusiastic about the way you gave up. Fabulous!
Ava x
I think we may be talking about a different type of void
Yes, I think so! 🙂
I recommend that Allen Carr method to anyone who asks how I managed to stop smoking easily enough - and even those who don't ask!!! 😀
I'm not talking about the void that was created by the nicotine, the void existed long before the addiction began.
We then use whatever substance it is to fill the original void.
So, the void I am speaking about is the void which led to taking the substance in the first place.
If you lose the addictions, both physical and psychological, the original void doesn't necessarily go away, you have to heal at the level of the original void ie. the root cause
Or you could look at it like this... the void never existed before you started smoking. It is the smoking that created the void. The void appears when the nicotine leaves the system, usually after an hour which is why most people smoke around 20 a day.
So the nicotine addiction AND the psychological addiction to smoking have created this empty feeling or void. If you lose the addictions, both physical and psycholigical, then the void goes with them.
I tried to stop smoking loads of times without letting go of the psychological addiction and it was torture! Each time I would get off the nicotine I was still left with that miserable deprived feeling that I was missing out on smoking. And of course I ended up smoking again, first a borrowed puff, then a borrowed fag and next thing Iwa back buying 20 a day! :rolleyes:
Sorry to ramble on, (I've had wine!) please anyone wanting to to stop smoking give the Allen Carr book or CD a go. I found it fab, a real eye opener and frees you froom the psycholigical addiction by changing the way you think about smoking, why you smoke, why it doesn't make sense and all that....
...honestely, the book makes a whole lot more sense than I am doing here. 😀
Just as an aside, many people give up smoking only to start again some years down the line - a prime example of the original void not having been healed.
...or another new void may have surfaced?
People are changing and evolving throughout their lives. What is important when you are 15 and started smoking may not be important when you are 35 and trying to give up, or when you are 45 and start again. My feeling would be to brush yourself down and start/try again... and not to keep looking back to the past for the solution/cause of your problems. We are all flawed individuals and no matter how much work we do on resolving our issues there will always be a weak link.
Ava x
That's true, or another new void may have surfaced.
Sometimes you need to look back in order to move forwards. Many of our issues lie in childhood, so it depends where the void lies actually.
I'm not talking about the void that was created by the nicotine, the void existed long before the addiction began.
We then use whatever substance it is to fill the original void.
So, the void I am speaking about is the void which led to taking the substance in the first place.
If you lose the addictions, both physical and psychological, the original void doesn't necessarily go away, you have to heal at the level of the original void ie. the root cause
I can't say I had a void that I decided or happened to fill with smoking! Or maybe it was somethiing I wasn't aware of. If I were filling a void, wouldn't I fill it with something like chocolate or chip butties or exercise even, instead of going for the really awfully difficult and stinky task of learning to smoke?!
Maybe I'm voidless because I can honestly say I will never smoke again. 🙂
I can't say I had a void that I decided or happened to fill with smoking! Or maybe it was somethiing I wasn't aware of. If I were filling a void, wouldn't I fill it with something like chocolate or chip butties or exercise even, instead of going for the really awfully difficult and stinky task of learning to smoke?!
Maybe I'm voidless because I can honestly say I will never smoke again. 🙂
I can't speak for you because I am not you, but sometimes the need is unconscious, and not conscious, so many times we aren't aware of the real need that lies behind the compulsion to eat or smoke, or take drugs etc
As for going for something other than smoking, some smoke, others take drugs, others eat too much. It doesn't matter what the choice of distraction is, it will be one thing for one person, and another for another person.
The interesting thing about drugs and smoking is that they satisfy an imbalance in the brain as a result of emotional trauma, they temporarily calm the activity of certain centres in the brain where trauma resides.
Hence why they are the choice of many people.
Hi all,
To quit or not to quit smoking is a very personal choice. Unless the smoker himself has firmly decided to quit, it is very difficult to convince him to quit. Smoking becomes a addiction due to stress or due to boredom. In case your friend decides to quit smoking, it is very important for you to support him and help him overcome this addiction.
Jimmy.
I would also strongly recommend Alan Carr's The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. My partner read it and has not wanted a cigarette since, as did my parents. It is predominately based around tacking the psychological addiction to smoking.
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