People think that to quit smoking, all they need to do is to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are numerous of products on the market, many over-the-counter, that provide an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason people continue steadily to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not a need for nicotine.

In this article, we will look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.

The Nicotine Style of Smoking

Back in the 1990’s, nicotine got labeled as a highly addictive substance. It had been blamed for the reason people think it is hard to give up smoking. Yet, cigarette smoking does not fit the definition of a chemical addiction.

In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps a person smoking. It followed that if nicotine could be provided from the source other than cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the individual would stop smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the new source of nicotine could be gradually reduced as time passes until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.

parhaat nikotiinipussit This would be considered a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the real driving force to smoke cigarettes. However, when there is various other reason people smoke, including the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will not be an effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.

The Research

Two products that follow the chemical addiction model of cigarette smoking are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do just what they say; they give a very ample supply of nicotine. Because the smoker gets generous levels of nicotine, that they are supposedly craving, the patches ought to be incredibly effective and remove the desire to have a cigarette. But how effective are they?

Some research shows, (Davidson, M., Epstein, M., Burt, R., Schaefer, C., Whitworth, G. & McDonald, A. (1998)), only 19% of people on nicotine patches had stopped smoking at six weeks also it was reduced to 9.2% at half a year. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of individuals using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.

The outcomes for the gum was about the same. Despite the fact that the gum was providing the smoker with plenty of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of the people were still smoking and at six months, 92% were smoking.

The study showed that the 8% – 9% of the people who had quit smoking using the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to quit smoking! Basically, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

A Real Life Example

A radio host was interviewing me concerning the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he told me that he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to give up also it had taken him two years until he was finally off of cigarettes. TWO YEARS!

Think about that for a moment. The nicotine gum was providing a big supply of nicotine in the same way it is made to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Basically, the gum, packed with nicotine had not been substituting for the cigarette as it theoretical should have done.

Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after 2 yrs. Nonetheless it wasn’t the gum, it was him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Similar to the 8% – 9% of the people in the research study mentioned above.

Nicotine isn’t the Motivator to Smoke

The amount of nicotine a smoker gets in a single cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to the body mass; it’s tiny therefore is the amount of nicotine it contains.

However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum are loaded with nicotine. That’s what they are made to do; put adequate nicotine in to the smokers system to, theoretically at the very least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have adverse reactions to these products because they are getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?

According to the American Lung Association, side effects with the nicotine patch are:

Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine has an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the current items that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the effects mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine isn’t the motivator to smoke.

Conclusion

If you pass the nicotine model to give up smoking, you will be disappointed. The only method to quit smoking is to remove the Psychological Smoking Mechanism by using proven, psychological techniques. When the mechanism is fully gone, so is smoking.

� Copyright 2010, R. Michael Stone

R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor

33 years experience with subconscious communication and subconscious programming techniques.

Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System? – This program that gives you the powerful psychological tools necessary to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program helps you become, not an ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program can help YOU permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.