It's hard to quit smoking, even though you already know the dangers? this is why

More than a third or 36.3 percent of Indonesia's population today are smokers. If you want to compare, this figure is 10 times the total population of Singapore! The smoking habit in Indonesia has claimed at least 235 thousand lives per year. Ironically, even though now every pack of cigarettes has been included with a scary picture warning of the dangers of smoking, this does not necessarily make smokers stop smoking. Actually, what makes it difficult for someone to quit smoking?

Why is it difficult for someone to quit smoking?

The main answer is nicotine. Nicotine is a substance naturally found in tobacco, which has as strong an addictive effect as heroin or cocaine. When you smoke, nicotine enters the lungs and is then absorbed into the bloodstream along with carbon monoxide and other toxins, flowing throughout the body.

Nicotine works to divert negative emotions and feelings, replacing them with thoughts that make you happy. The reason is, nicotine is associated with an increase in dopamine, a chemical in the brain that is responsible for improving mood and causing feelings of happiness. In fact, nicotine that is inhaled from cigarette smoke can reach the brain faster than drugs that are given through a vein. Nicotine also acts as a depressant by affecting the flow between nerve cells.

Why are you still smoking, when you know it's not good for your health?

When you are addicted to smoking, you can no longer control the desire for what you do so you will justify any means to indulge that addiction.

As you smoke more cigarettes, your brain's nervous system will become more and more accustomed to nicotine exposure. This results in an increase in nicotine levels in the smoker's blood. Gradually, your body will build tolerance to nicotine.

This means that you need more and more cigarettes and you smoke more often to get the same happy effect when you first smoked. This makes smokers want to continue smoking again. That's why a smoker can quickly and easily become addicted to nicotine.

Therefore, it is possible that the effects of this addiction make it difficult for you to quit smoking. No matter what the risk that might eat away at you in the future, however, you must continue to smoke in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms that may appear when quitting smoking - for example, sour mouth, headaches, coughing, difficulty sleeping, to drastic mood changes (frustration, irritability., impatient, even depressed).

Addiction makes you not care about your health

The theory above is echoed by a study from Stanford University that looked at three groups of participants: active smokers, former smokers, and people who did not smoke, for three years. Over the course of the study, each person was given a timed questionnaire relating smoking habits to an increased risk of lung cancer.

This questionnaire is the basis for researchers to find out what kind and extent the participants' perceptions of the dangers of smoking: whether it will influence their decision to keep smoking, quit smoking, or want to try smoking instead.

After the questionnaire results were collected, all participants were divided into 3 groups based on their perceptions of the risk of smoking: Absolute, what is the chance of a smoker getting lung cancer; Connection, what is the chance of a smoker getting lung cancer when compared to a non-smoker; and Relatively, how much increased risk of lung cancer from smoking habits. Researchers found that most participants underestimated the relative risk of the dangers of smoking.

Simply put, these people tend to be less concerned about the health dangers of smoking because they think that "smoking no smoking is the same, because anyway I was already unwell.Meanwhile, there are also people who decide to try smoking because they believe that "This is the first time I smoke, I will definitely not be at risk the same one". In fact, the smoking habit can develop into an addiction, which can then increase your risk of various diseases. This means that people are not fully aware of the big difference between the risks of smoking and the benefits of not smoking at all.

That is why cigarette packs with scary images and giant billboards on the streets that contain advice on the dangers of smoking on the streets, even though it will not much shake a smoker's decision to quit smoking immediately. It is not surprising that despite the onslaught of anti-smoking campaigns, the number of smokers has never decreased.

Not that quitting smoking is impossible

It is undeniable that most people find it difficult to quit smoking, especially if they were previously heavy smokers. Although difficult, quitting smoking is not an impossible thing. You can enjoy the benefits even 30 minutes after your last cigarette.

There are several ways you can start to quit smoking. The following is a compilation of various articles about how to quit smoking on the HelloSehat page: