Are You A Smoker?

[Ale]

Some varied and interesting thoughts on getting hooked on stuff....
I had a conversation many years ago with a chap I worked with whose ex girlfriend was an alcoholic. He'd described her alcoholism as an illness, I sympathetically disagreed and voiced my view that alcoholism was an addiction and it could cause illness...he was quite angry about this and insisted he was right. I like a debate but decided he wasn't in the frame of mind to hold one so decided I needed to be somewhere else.
What's people's views on this? Are addictions or substance reliance illness?

Cheers

Clint

After my years of volunteer work with the homeless I would say addiction is an illness, but it really doesnt matter if it is an illness or not. Either way it is still a destructive dependence in their life that needs dealing with. Whether its smoking and causing health issues now or in the future, drinking, drugs or anything else an addiction is unhealthy, Often an addiction will be more important than food, or other things that are required in life so any addiction has the potential to cause problems in life. IMO even addiction to exercise and endorphin's is a bad thing.

 

[Clint]

I can see your point. I still struggle with the dependency bit....the thing with addiction of any kind is that the only thing you can depend on is death...

 

[Tanzanite]

....ah,but are they becoming a new smoker/drinker as opposed to relapse? Are you classed as a smoker/drinker/druggie after prolonged useage /habit/addiction or does casual use count? I think it's fair to say most of us on the forum like /enjoy/use alcohol...how it affects us individually classifies us to an extent...I think....I know a couple of people who drink....one has made serious amounts of money,an intellect, held a world record,written books...lost the lot,several times...****** up most of the time . The other played football at a professional level in his younger days, but now works in a manual job, suffering I'll health and getting worse...on the **** all the time...
I struggle to see how the first is dependant on booze to be successful. .only his ability to have it all go to sh1t is and the other his spiralling I'll health and inability is dependant on his continued drinking. ..
Both hopeless heading the same way...

Cheers

Clint

Yes Clint through Choice, nobody else pours it down there necks. i love a drink have 6-800 bottles of beer and 200 bottles of wine available to me in my conditioning and storage building, but i might have a glass of wine or a bottle , i might have a couple of beers or 10. but i dont drink the maximum amount every day , just rarely , i dont let it affect my life , my business , or relationships , i dont drink it just because i can or its there. These people choose to be like this .

 

[pms67]

I can see your point. I still struggle with the dependency bit....the thing with addiction of any kind is that the only thing you can depend on is death...

Im on nightshift Clint, your really cheering me up 😭

 

[shepp]

I smoked from 14 till I was 32, but never more than ten a day, mostly around 5, I gave up when traveling around SE Asia.
Probably took until quite recently to get to the stage where I never even fancy one.

 

[Clint]

Pms67....night shift makes it all seem worse.....


Cheers

Clint

 

[Ale]

Yes Clint through Choice, nobody else pours it down there necks. i love a drink have 6-800 bottles of beer and 200 bottles of wine available to me in my conditioning and storage building, but i might have a glass of wine or a bottle , i might have a couple of beers or 10. but i dont drink the maximum amount every day , just rarely , i dont let it affect my life , my business , or relationships , i dont drink it just because i can or its there. These people choose to be like this .

It is very rarely a simple choice of people be like that. Even people who choose to over indulge and become addicts usually have an underlying reason for it. It could be past abuse, depression, hopeless situation, etc.

 

[terrym]

Having not had a cigarette for 17 years i must say couldn't disagree more, people smoke because they are addicted to nicotine once their body is free of the stuff they no longer crave it, a minority will fall off the wagon but that can be said of all addictions it doesn't mean we are all one stressful incident away from starting smoking again.
.

Plus one on all that :thumb:.
The fact that I smoked solidly for 12 years, but then stopped over 40 years ago, does not make me an addict worried that I might relapse one day and start smoking untipped fags again.

 

[Dutto]

............

Don't want to work .......... their to busy spending our firkin money............

.......... how do you get to 50 and never had a job. ..............

Sounds like they live right royally to me! :whistle: :whistle:

 

[Dutto]

From ...

https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/89/8/572/2526887/Duration-of-Smoking-Abstinence-and-Success-in

Previous studies that have examined the issue of relapse after long intervals of abstinence
have relied on nonrepresentative samples or have been fairly small.

"The Cancer Prevention Study of the 1960s found that among 65,709 male volunteers
30-89 years of age who quit at baseline, 37.3% were smoking again 2 years later.

Among a subset of this sample, aged 50-69 years and abstinent
2-4 years, 5-9 years and 10+ years at baseline,
current smoking at follow-up was
8.7%, 4.1%, and 2.2%, respectively."​

I wonder how many of the 450 people (approximately) who went back to smoking after over 10 years without a cigarette thought they were "cured"?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

So why do people relapse and start smoking again?

I can only give my view as someone who gave up cold turkey (no not the boxing day leftovers)

I tried several times to give up, I was smoking 30 a day and more at the weekend when heavy drinking was involved, I wanted to give up more for financial reasons than health, I failed many times because I loved smoking but when I saw a workmate 59 years young die of lung cancer it scared me enough to finally kick the habit for good, it wasn't easy but I had the will power to stop and not start again, I guess the people you refer to didn't really want to stop or do not have the will power to stay away from them.

 

[Ale]

I can only give my view as someone who gave up cold turkey (no not the boxing day leftovers)

I tried several times to give up, I was smoking 30 a day and more at the weekend when heavy drinking was involved, I wanted to give up more for financial reasons than health, I failed many times because I loved smoking but when I saw a workmate 59 years young die of lung cancer it scared me enough to finally kick the habit for good, it wasn't easy but I had the will power to stop and not start again, I guess the people you refer to didn't really want to stop or do not have the will power to stay away from them.

Comes down to something I said earlier. The desire to stop has to be stronger than the desire to smoke.

 

[BeerCat]

Addiction is an illness of the mind imho. It's compulsive destructive behaviour.