Five Reasons People Start and Continue to Smoke

It’s the advice we hear from cradle to grave these days, from teachers, parents, the media, and everyone in between. So why is it that so many people still smoke in spite of all the warning and pleading not to? Why do so many people ignore the obvious health risks to continue an expensive and potentially deadly habit? It’s a complex question, but we think we’ve wrapped our heads around it. The reasons can essentially be broken down into why people start smoking and why they continue smoking.

Why People Start Smoking


1) The desire to look cool

Why People Start Smoking By far the biggest reason people start smoking is the desire to look cool. To a twelve-to-sixteen-year-old kid without much life experience, smoking a cigarette feels like a cool, “mature” thing to do. This is especially true if most of the adults in his or her life (parents, relatives, bosses at work, etc.) smoke cigarettes and have for most of their lives. Teenagers are still creatures of imitations, and if they perceive cigarette smoking as the “adult” thing to do, they will do it.

2) Peer pressure


3) Rebellion

Why People Start Smoking Between the ages of twelve and sixteen, kids also really begin to push the envelope in terms of rules and social boundaries. One way of doing this is to smoke cigarettes despite – or perhaps because of – pleas to the contrary. Kids are probably more likely to smoke if this pleading comes in the form of demanding (e.g., “you had BETTER not smoke!”) than if it comes in the form of calm, rational explanations (e.g., “we can’t follow you around and stop you, but we want you to know the health risks”).

4) Poor coping skills


5) Social habit became addiction

Five Reasons People Start and Continue to Smoke Still other people began smoking socially (at parties, after going out to eat, etc.) with no intention of becoming addicted. They may have started by only smoking cigarettes that addicted smokers offered to them in social situations, justifying it with statements like “well, as long as I’m not buying my own and smoking all the time, it’s okay.” While some people can pull this off, others cannot, and for them social smoking is just a greased chute leading to full-blown addiction.

Why People Continue Smoking

Addictions that began in teenage years or early adulthood can continue long after, or even forever. Here’s why:

1) The physical addiction


2) The mental addiction

Why People Continue Smoking The mental addiction is what smokers really struggle with. For even once the nicotine has left the bloodstream and their bodies no longer crave more, they still feel compelled to smoke in situations they once did. For example, any smoker will tell you how hard it is to not have the “after meal” cigarette following breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Other people find it impossible not to smoke while working, before going to bed, or upon waking up. Breaking these habits is often much more difficult than fighting through the brief physical cravings.

3) Stress


4) Being around people who smoke

Few things are more frustrating to a smoker trying to quit than being around people who smoke. If you have friends, family members, or co-workers lighting up around you all day, it can be easy to slip up and have “just one more.” The worst situation is when a person’s friends don’t respect their wishes to quit and continue enabling them by giving them cigarettes to smoke. If this is your situation, take steps to change it. Try to avoid contact with people who smoke (at least while they’re smoking), and tell your friends you are dead serious about stopping.

5) Relying on pills and patches instead of willpower

Most doctors (and former smokers) will tell you that you cannot quit until you really, truly don’t want to smoke cigarettes anymore. They are right. Today’s generation of smokers has been led to believe they can break their addiction by using nicotine patches and medications that supposedly eliminate cravings. And in certain situations, these things might even have some value. But if you’re just quitting to please your parents or spouse, for example, they are not likely to be of much help. The only way you will stop is if you decide smoking isn’t good and make it a personal imperative to stop doing it.

By Neil Smith

Provided by ArmMed Media