Apparently, there was a recent settlement for 8 million dollars in another "smokers" case. "They made me do it!" The plaintiff was the wife of a smoker who died at age 55 after years of smoking- he was ADDICTED. He died in 1997, at the age of 55. How long does it take for someone to hear the message? Smoking causes disease and death.
I used to smoke myself, and I knew in 1970, that smoking was dangerous for my health. I used to joke that the cigarettes I smoked were keeping the cancer cells quiet, and if I stopped, they would wake up and kill me. The above case is just another nail in the coffin of accepting personal responsibility for our behavior.
As a thoracic and vascular surgeon, I have thirty years of experience watching my patients smoke and struggle to stop. I have heard all the excuses in the world, "I've smoked for 50 years" and, "I'm addicted" are the most common. It's the "I'm addicted" that deserves further comment.
I think the people who make the "products" to help smokers stop want them to believe they are ADDICTED. Believing you are addicted means that you cannot stop WITHOUT buying their product to stop. That is what they want smokers to believe because it means money for them, but what they do not want smokers to consider is that addiction comes in different flavors. Their are addictions to narcotics, or alcohol, and these are serious. If you stop these drugs suddenly, you can die. Seizures, vomiting, and diarrhea are the consequences. But smoking is a special type of addiction that I call a "situational addiction."
As a previous smoker, I know what a situational addiction is. It's one that comes on under certain situations: up in the morning, read the newspaper, a cup of coffee, and a cigarette; an important telephone conversation and a cigarette; after dinner, a cup of coffee and a cigarette. All of these situations NEED a cigarette. I used to get up in the middle of the night, think about a problem that was bothering me, and have a cigarette. When I finally quit, it was the SITUATIONS that I had to deal with to stay away from cigs.
The most common reason someone who has quit goes back, is that something happens that upsets them, and they say," I need a cigarette." This behavior is not a physical addition, as alcohol or narcotics are, this is a situational addiction. This type of addition cannot be handled with medicines or patches, or hypnosis, or needles. It can only be managed with reasoning and attitude, and understanding.
Simply being aware of this distinction can help the smoker understand and deal with the urge to smoke. Change in one's situation can help relieve the stress and the desire for another smoke.
When I quit, I was nervous for about three days. By then, all the nicotine (the "addictive" substance) is gone from the body. That's when an understanding of the situational part of the "addiction" becomes important. I actually wrote the Attorney General about this about one year ago; he never answered.
Success in quiting smoking is as dependent on being aware of the situational part of this process as it is using a patch or other devices to control the urge. I believe the reason so many of these devices fail is because of a misunderstanding of the causes of this addiction. Good luck.
James P. Weaver, M.D.,FACS
This all gets down to a basic lack of responsibility in our culture. People want to blame anyone else for their problems beside the main culprit -- themselves!
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