Re: I agree 110% that this is revolting.spartanwerewolfDecember 8 2013, 10:12:32 UTC
It is immensely psychological. I started at 14, thinking (because I was 14 and knew everything)I wouldn't get addicated, and even if I did, I'd just quit once I was 18. I finally wound up quitting last October (age 25). The physical cravings were not nearly so rough as the psychological ones eg: having a cigarette when you first get up, or after a meal.
I started again in June, having not smoked for eight full months. I bought a pack of cigarettes for when I very occasionally wanted one (like one every six weeks or so) and it was literally the *only* thing I could think about while I had it. It's very easy for the rationalization of "well, one more cigarette won't hurt" to turn into "another pack can't hurt" which turns into taking up smoking full time again.
I had intended to quit, uh, four days ago, but I was just in the States and cigarettes are comparatively cheap there -$55/carton as opposed to $88+/carton- so I bought one. You see how easily I rationalized that? "It's okay, because they're cheaper here than at home, and I'll quit when this carton's gone." It's a weird cognitive dissonance, and I can't explain it, even after smoking for ten years and quitting once.
Re: I agree 110% that this is revolting.moonshazDecember 10 2013, 05:59:16 UTC
I actually get exactly what you're talking about, even though I'm not a smoker! People with certain kinds of eating disorders go through the exact same kind of cognitive dissonance with their cravings. I'm a binge eater, and I go through that all the time.
I could have almost written parts of that myself, substituting words such as "cookie" or "snack" for "cigarette." If I had a dollar for every time I've told myself, "well, one more ___ won't hurt," "another ___ can't hurt," etc., I would be obscenely wealthy by now!
That's the insidious thing about addiction, whether it be to a substance or a behavior (and I believe binge eating disorder is a combination of both)--your brain can perform the most amazing gymnastics to get what it craves.
If anyone can ever figure out how to turn off that switch in the brain that makes us crave certain things so much that we literally talk ourselves out of doing what we know is best for us, that will be a miracle!
I started again in June, having not smoked for eight full months. I bought a pack of cigarettes for when I very occasionally wanted one (like one every six weeks or so) and it was literally the *only* thing I could think about while I had it. It's very easy for the rationalization of "well, one more cigarette won't hurt" to turn into "another pack can't hurt" which turns into taking up smoking full time again.
I had intended to quit, uh, four days ago, but I was just in the States and cigarettes are comparatively cheap there -$55/carton as opposed to $88+/carton- so I bought one. You see how easily I rationalized that? "It's okay, because they're cheaper here than at home, and I'll quit when this carton's gone." It's a weird cognitive dissonance, and I can't explain it, even after smoking for ten years and quitting once.
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I could have almost written parts of that myself, substituting words such as "cookie" or "snack" for "cigarette." If I had a dollar for every time I've told myself, "well, one more ___ won't hurt," "another ___ can't hurt," etc., I would be obscenely wealthy by now!
That's the insidious thing about addiction, whether it be to a substance or a behavior (and I believe binge eating disorder is a combination of both)--your brain can perform the most amazing gymnastics to get what it craves.
If anyone can ever figure out how to turn off that switch in the brain that makes us crave certain things so much that we literally talk ourselves out of doing what we know is best for us, that will be a miracle!
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