People think that to quit smoking, all they have to do would be to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are a number of products in the marketplace, many over the counter, that provide an ample supply of replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason people continue steadily to smoke is because of the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.

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

nikotiini pussit The Nicotine Model of Smoking

Back in the 1990’s, nicotine got labeled as an extremely addictive substance. It had been blamed for the reason why people find it 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 an individual smoking. It followed that when nicotine could be provided from a source apart from cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the person would stop smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the brand new source of nicotine could possibly be gradually reduced as time passes before smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.

This would be a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the real driving force to smoke cigars. However, if you have various other reason people smoke, including the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never be an effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.

The Research

Two products that follow the chemical addiction style of using tobacco are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They’re superb products and do just what they say; they provide a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and take away the desire for 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 six months. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at 6 months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of those that had stopped were back at it again.

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

The research showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had quit smoking utilizing the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to give up smoking! Quite simply, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

A Real Life Example

A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he explained he was an ex-smoker. He said he had used nicotine gum to quit and it had taken him two years until he was finally off of cigarettes. TWO YEARS!

Consider that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a large supply of nicotine just as it is made to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Quite simply, the gum, loaded with nicotine was not substituting for the cigarette as it theoretical should have done.

Since the man wished to quit, he finally stopped after two years. Nonetheless it wasn’t the gum, it had been him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Just like the 8% – 9% of the people in the study study mentioned above.

Nicotine isn’t the Motivator to Smoke

The volume of nicotine a smoker gets in one cigarette is very 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’re made to do; put adequate nicotine in to the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they are getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?

In line with 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 does have an impact on the smokers body. However, with all the current items that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. This is another clue that nicotine isn’t the motivator to smoke.

Conclusion

If you go by the nicotine model to quit smoking, you are going to be disappointed. The only method to quit smoking is to remove the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of proven, psychological techniques. Once 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, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program can help YOU permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.