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Late Bloomer Smokers
Posted by Deller on 6/5/2009, 3:57:12, in reply to "addicted, I'm a smoker"
195.93.21.66
Hi, I find your post fascinating and the change in your attitude quite natural as i will try and explain my perspective.
On starting smoking you force your body to accept the taste and cocktail of drugs that it does not like (usually) and only by persisting do you aquire a liking for the taste and the sensation of the smoke burning the lungs and throat. however the desire to continue to keep on doing this incredibly quickly develops past the point of experimentation usually within a week or so of daily smoking in most people to then alter the chemical make up of the brain. this change is what we know as addiction, the brain needs nicotine and on a medium strength cigarette the level of nicotine in an average person is 24 in a day hence the pack size of 20 is so carefully thought out to ensure that you always have a nearly full pack to continue on with, clever huh?
OK so after a couple of weeks the taste and sensation are much more pleasant the taste of food and alcohl will also have altered imperceptibly as well as you taste buds become immune to the acrid smoke that is now so pleasant. you will still be in the honeymoon phase of being encouraged by peer's to continue and almost un-noticed, you will transition from feeling that you want to have a cigarette, toi needing a cigarette, at this point any choice you have in the matter is finished, for as long as it takes, your body is that of a smoker the chemical changes are complete and during waking hours it is dependant upon having a level of nicotine in the system. that is the chemical addiction.
Physical addiction is more subtle, you become comfortalbe with saying "Jeez I need a smoke" friends who smoke unconciously persuade you to become one of them friendships are re-inforced persualssion to "have another" grows as they see a new recruit who is one less "against the wind of quitting" it is your private escape, an unconditional friend albeit an anti-social one.
During the inital months further changes develop in the brain and body, mainly however it is in the lung's and studies have revealed that approximately ater six months the lungs have enough deposited material that they accept no more and then you notice breathing becoming a little more laboured, exhales contain a far greater quantity of residual smoke inhales are longer and deeper and held internally for longer, by this time you have all the attributes of a smoker and indeed are playing catch up.
You have a choice, to continue and to accept it enjoy and embrace it, many friends and family will be horrified others won't ewver bat an eyelid, but it is a choice you make.
How? well you are currently in the final phase of becoming a life smoker, that is the realisation that your dabbling was unwise the habit unhealthy but still the pleasure you get outweighs the negatives and you enjoy the habit more and more. this period will pass and it will become a routine, if you let it, it can be a time to transition in other areas as well, why not get a more glamerous look alter your dress style, hair, hobbies, to reflect this new you.
Stop beating yourself up once you accept that you are a smoker it was after all your decision to accept the very first cigarette, you knew the risks, you still took it, so the next time you get the urge, just smoke just experiment with the habit and adapt to it.
As long as we accept the actions we undertake and choose to enjoy them or derive pleasure from them why worry as much as you have done. There is far worse things that you could have developed a taste for.
I hope this helps.
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