People think that to quit smoking, all they need to do is to replace the nicotine supplied by the cigarette. There are many of products available to buy, many over the counter, that provide an ample supply of replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue steadily to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.

In this article, we will look at some research on the effectiveness of nicotine patches and gum.

The Nicotine Model of Smoking

Back in the 1990’s, nicotine got called an extremely addictive substance. It had been blamed for the reason why people find it hard to quit smoking. Yet, using tobacco does not fit this is of a chemical addiction.

In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps an individual smoking. It followed that when nicotine could be provided from the source other than cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the individual would quit smoking cigarettes by replacing the source of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the new source of nicotine could possibly be gradually reduced over time until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.

This would be a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the real driving force to smoke cigarettes. However, if there is various other reason people smoke, such as the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will not 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 model of cigarette smoking are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They’re superb products and do just what they say; they provide a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous levels of nicotine, which they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and take away 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 people on nicotine patches had stopped smoking at six weeks and it was reduced to 9.2% at six months. Considering it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of individuals using nicotine patches were still smoking and at six months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of these that had stopped were back at it again.

The outcomes 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 6 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 give up smoking! In other words, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

A Real Life Example

A radio host was interviewing me concerning the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and in the course of the interview he explained he was an ex-smoker. He said he previously used nicotine gum to quit also it had taken him 2 yrs until he was finally off of 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. parhaat nikotiinipussit Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Quite simply, the gum, packed with nicotine was not substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical should have done.

Since the man wished to quit, he finally stopped after two years. Nonetheless it wasn’t the gum, it was him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Similar to the 8% – 9% of individuals in the research study mentioned above.

Nicotine is Not the Motivator to Smoke

How much nicotine a smoker gets in one cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to your system 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 into the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the necessity to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they are getting ultimately more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?

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 does have 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 go by the nicotine model to quit smoking, you are likely to be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking would be to remove the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of 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 provides you the powerful psychological tools necessary to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program helps you become, not an ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Learn how this program will let you permanently remove cigarettes from your life.