Posted by Norm on 5/18/2009, 7:46 am, in reply to "Re: closet smoker support "
71.226.232.40
Dave,
I think you contradict yourself when you say that (1) anything that brings you satisfaction and pleasure will lead you to seek it out again; and (2) anyone who smokes is hooked no matter how long they could go without it. Unless you're also saying that occasionally enjoying our favorite foods and hobbies is a form of addiction.
For some people, smoking is like what you describe with food and drink. They like it and therefore want to repeat the enjoyment. They may have no problem going without for hours or days or even weeks. That is far different from struggling to sit through long meetings or movies or airplane flights because you're itching for a smoke.
In other words, frequent and intense desire are defining elements of addiction. The addicts are those who are saying, "I gotta have it, and gotta have it NOW." Or pretty close, anyway.
Norm
--Previous Message--
: It's probably true that for a lot of us, our
: addiction runs deeper than this, but just
: skimming the surface: Rare is the person who
: can thoroughly enjoy something and not want
: more of it, at least on occasion. Can you
: imagine deciding never to eat your favorite
: foods ever again? To give up your favorite
: hobby for good? Anything you truly like,
: that brings you satisfaction and pleasure,
: lights up the same pleasure pathways in the
: brain--leading you to seek it out again.
:
: I think that some people who have never been
: smokers assume that at some point something
: just clicks for a beginning smoker and
: wham--they're addicted. But of course that
: doesn't happen--becoming addicted to
: cigarettes is as subtle a process as
: learning to salivate on your way home on
: Friday, in anticipation of the pot roast
: that you're used to having every week on
: that day. That's why when light smokers say
: they're not hooked, the first thing I want
: to as is if they'd be willing and able to
: give it up for good, and never smoke again.
: If the answer is "no", then
: tobacco has already got its claws in them,
: no matter what they might think or how long
: they say they can go without. They just
: don't realize they're addicted yet.
:
: Dave
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