Q:
Why do I “feel” addicted to nicotine?
A:
People usually think of addiction as being about drugs. It’s really about the brain. When somebody uses tobacco, alcohol, or another drug, chemicals are released that result in a sense of pleasure or euphoria. That’s the intoxicating “high” that people find fun and enjoyable. It makes people want to have that experience again. Addiction itself is actually separate from the intoxication process. It is due to a problem in another area of the brain that causes people to develop a pattern of abnormal, compulsive use.
Q:
Is my addiction to smoking partly psychological?
A:
Yes, it is. Addictions are often described as “habits.” With tobacco, the role of habit is stronger than with some other chemical addictions. This is partly due to frequency: If someone smokes a pack a day and takes 10 drags off each cigarette, that’s 200 drags a day—or more than 70,000 each year. Smokers light up so often that they make associations with it: driving, for instance, or talking on the phone or drinking a cup of coffee.
Q:
What's the best way to quit?
A:
The best way to quit involves both medication, which deals with withdrawal and cravings, and behavior therapy, which deals with habits. The newer medications go beyond just replacing the nicotine. They work on other brain chemistry systems and appear to work better than just nicotine replacement—nicotine patches and gums. Cognitive-behavioral and other therapies can help people develop different ways of thinking about their addiction and about themselves.
Q:
Will we have more tools for quitting in coming years?
A:
The science related to addiction is very new. The research that’s being done using brain scans shows what parts of the brain light up when you have a certain chemical in your body and how the brain changes during intoxication, withdrawal, addiction, and recovery from addiction. This is a fascinating area of research that will result in newer medications coming onto the market. Physicians and the general public are going to be amazed by what science gives us in the coming decades.
How to Quit Smoking:How to Break Your Addiction Forever
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