People think that to give up smoking, all they have to do is to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are a number of products available to buy, many over the counter, that give an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason people continue 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 an extremely addictive substance. It was 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 an individual smoking. It followed that if nicotine could possibly be provided from the source apart from cigarettes, the smoker would not crave cigarettes. Thus, the individual would quit 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 until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.

This would be considered a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the true driving force to smoke cigars. However, when there is some other reason people smoke, such as the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never 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 style of cigarette smoking are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They are superb products and do just what they say; they provide a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous amounts 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 individuals 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 results 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 individuals 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 about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he told me that he was an ex-smoker. He said he had used nicotine gum to give up and it had taken him two years until he was finally from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!

Think about that for a moment. The nicotine gum was providing a big 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 must 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. Just like the 8% – 9% of individuals in the study study mentioned above.

Nicotine is Not the Motivator to Smoke

How much 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 contain nicotine. That’s what they are made to do; put adequate nicotine in to the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the necessity to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they’re getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all of this extra nicotine do?

nikotiini pussit In line with the American Lung Association, unwanted 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 things that smoking does to the smoker, it doesn’t produce the effects mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.

Conclusion

If you pass the nicotine model to quit smoking, you are likely to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism by using proven, psychological techniques. When the mechanism is 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 may help you permanently remove cigarettes from your life.