There are some habits that seem impossible to break. Thumb-sucking still seems to be popular with a lot of people, or nail-biting or even teeth-grinding. Humans tend to have oral-fixation problems, and it’s even worse for those of us who smoke.
Scientists have debated the roots of nicotine addiction beyond the chemical components for as long as I can remember. For most it is the repetitive or habitual use of tobacco products that, once ingrained into daily routine, becomes mindless and comforting. For others, smoking cigarettes only seems appealing in social situations involving a drink in-hand.
But nicotine-addiction runs very deep for others. As Steven Tyler from Aerosmith once said, “I used to do heroine and smoke cigarettes. And there isn’t a day that I don’t miss the cigarettes.”
Taboos and stereotypes associated with smoking are age-old. I’m aware of profiling and how unfair it is, but with the fearful society we live in today smoking has become a dangerous stigma that poisons anyone’s reputation. This stigma puts more than a person’s identity or self-esteem at risk. Not only is the health of the individual who is trapped in addiction compromised, but so are his or her chances at medical insurance coverage.
Aside from all of these pressures and frustrating circumstances, I’m attempting to quit for the fourth time.
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Smoking is a fairly sure and fairly honorable way to commit suicide,” and I don’t want to dig my own grave and fill it with cigarette butts in pursuit of a comfortable addiction.
I never started smoking to look cool, nor did I start because of friends. I started because I was an angsty high-schooler who stumbled into the stress-relieving power of nicotine. Health risks never bothered me because, as most of us have felt at some time, I considered myself invincible. But I can honestly say that having a cold for weeks longer than my non-smoking friends has been enough of a wake-up call.
There was never a point when I worried about smelling like smoke or hiding my habit from anyone. But when I started forfeiting money for gas and groceries to purchase cigarettes, I realized the problem was getting worse.
In my honest opinion, the influences and effects of smoking, both positive and negative, are hugely over-hyped in the media. If I see one more Truth commercial, I will lose it. Facts and figures do nothing to curb a simple oral-fixation. Videos on YouTube of surgeries will not personalize the dangers of a suicidal habit. However, taking stock in your own losses will.
Fellow smokers, there is a subtle joy in our habit, and I recognize that. However, we are killing ourselves, and there is nothing honorable in that, no matter what your standards might be. Don’t quit for them, quit for yourself. Each time I tried to quit I did it for other people and failed. But this time, I’m doing it for my lungs, not my friend pouting at me inside while I’m on the porch freezing in the cold. I’m tired of dying faster than everyone around me.
Amy Hoover is a senior in journalism. She can be reached at [email protected].
