Everyone knows that most bad habits are diseases based on two components: physical and psychological dependence. And with the first stage of treatment, as a rule, there are no difficulties - it consists of two stages:

excretion of harmful substances and decay products from the body;
maintenance of health status, assistance in violation of the functions of organs and systems, symptomatic therapy.

This stage takes little time and has a strict schedule. However, after a person has taken the necessary measures - refused tobacco products, took drugs prescribed by a doctor to alleviate withdrawal symptoms, the desire to smoke may not only not disappear, but even increase. And, as practice shows, not always due to the growing need for nicotine - even with active nicotine replacement therapy, craving for a cigarette can reach serious proportions. And this means that there are other motives that encourage a person to smoke or return to addiction after a certain time after giving up. There are several most common socio-psychological reasons for exposure to this "ailment".

Why does a person start smoking?

As a rule, until the smoker has experienced all the "benefits" of this bad habit, the beginning of the formation of addiction may be due to interest. As a rule, it is due to the search for new sensations, but there are other common causes:

Social pressure. If a person, especially a teenager, is in the company of smokers, the risk of developing tobacco dependence is greatly increased. This is especially true of leading individuals, for whom the opinion of society is of particular importance. The risk group also includes insecure teenagers, for whom it is important to feel their involvement in the team, to be “like everyone else”.

Positive image of a smoker. It is not for nothing that the anti-tobacco campaign, which has recently gained significant momentum in Russia, involves the restriction of advertising of tobacco products. In such commercials, the image of a smoking person is associated with freedom and a unique style, which creates a strong relationship in the minds of fragile minds: a cigarette is attractive. Positive associations are also equally formed at the expense of cinema - in many films, both domestic and foreign, the main characters resort to smoking, which in the mind of the viewer adds charisma, self-confidence, determination, etc. to them.

Adult example. If a child has watched significant adults smoke, the risk of developing a bad habit increases significantly. It is no secret that children copy the behavior of their parents and other close people, especially if they represent a special authority in their eyes. In this case, smoking can also be unconscious - in adolescence, the child will reach for a cigarette, not realizing the true motives of his act. Also, the formation of addiction "facilitates" the availability of tobacco products - as a rule, smoking adults keep cigarettes at home.

Challenge to society. One of the most common reasons is opposition to society, family, team. Entering puberty, a person outlines his own personal boundaries even more strictly: he learns to defend his opinion, to oppose himself to a group of people, to separate his true needs from the desires imposed by others. In this case, the so-called youthful maximalism often takes place - the need to do in defiance of adults, teachers, a group of classmates and classmates, the need to give oneself a special status "I am an adult."

Why are we mostly talking about teenagers? The reason for this is the fact that they start smoking, as a rule, precisely at puberty, however, some people give up the bad habit with the entry into adulthood, while others continue to smoke for many more years, and this also has an explanation.

Why does a person continue to smoke?

In addition to the fact that getting rid of nicotine addiction is difficult due to the physiological need, there are several psychological reasons why a person smokes.

Communication difficulties. For those who do not know how or are embarrassed to communicate with other people, smoking is a real "salvation" - in some way it liberates, unites, creates a specific environment upon contact. Ask a stranger for a cigarette, call a colleague to the smoking room, discussing important issues along the way, meet a neighbor near the entrance and chat - smoking somewhat simplifies these processes, which is especially important for closed people. However, it does not solve the main problem - constraint, isolation, closeness can and should be overcome without harm to health, since there are many psychological techniques, trainings, and activities created for this purpose.

The need for a break or stimulation of mental activity. It is believed that a person who left the office for a few minutes during a work break to get some fresh air looks rather strange. However, much more strange is the need to inhale a large amount of poisons, resins, toxic substances, and then return to the work process “with renewed vigor”. Nicotine is indeed a psychostimulant, but its effect is short-lived, after which brain activity, on the contrary, worsens. Despite this, many perceive a "smoke break" as an opportunity to pause in professional or educational activities.

Removal of stress. There is an opinion that a cigarette helps to relieve mental stress. Perhaps this is so, but not at all due to the intake of nicotine, everything is much simpler: the smoker takes a short break during a conflict situation or when thinking about a difficult problem, which allows him to “let off steam”, this process is akin to the psychologist’s common recommendation to count to 10. However, this you can do it without tobacco, so this reason, like many others, is just an excuse.

Cigarette as a ritual. Some smokers experience aesthetic pleasure from the process of smoking. This is facilitated by the abundance of beautiful accessories - lighters, ashtrays, hookahs, mouthpieces. As a rule, such individuals do not smoke or smoke quite little in everyday life and are addicted to a bad habit only in certain favorable circumstances. This reason is largely due to the positive image described above - the process of absorbing smoke is associated with something artistically attractive, stylish, exclusive.

Cigarette as a substitute. Some prefer to replace the need for taste sensations with tobacco, while others prefer to replace other rituals and actions with it. As a rule, a cigarette allows you to replace the lack of positive emotions, which further strengthens its relationship with stress and life's troubles in the mind of a person.

There are also other factors that contribute reinforcing bad habits. For example, according to psychoanalytic theory, a cigarette allows you to achieve psychological balance "mechanically" - the process of smoking is in some way a substitute for the sucking reflex, because crying babies are known to calm down when the mother puts them to the chest or gives a pacifier. Such personalities get stuck in this tender infancy and, when faced with problems, try to replace the missing calming objects. Be that as it may, none of the above reasons is a valid reason to continue to harm your health and the well-being of others, therefore, at the stage of quitting smoking, it is important to fight not only with physical addiction, but also work on yourself psychologically.

How to quit smoking?

First of all, it is important to determine for yourself the leading reasons for which the habit was formed. As a general rule, the analysis should include clarification of the following aspects:

Under what circumstances did you try smoking for the first time?

How long have you been exposed to tobacco products, what prompted you to try smoking?

How often and under what circumstances do you currently smoke?

What feelings make you want to reach for a cigarette?

Were there smokers among your relatives? What impression did they make on you?

Have you made any attempts to quit smoking that caused the failure?

As a rule, understanding the problem is half the way to solving it, so it is worth asking yourself questions and answering them as honestly as possible. This will allow you to find out what caused the acquisition of a bad habit and fight it in the future.

There are several general recommendations that allow you to return to a healthy life:

1. If you need to take a break or talk to another person, try to do it without a cigarette.

2. Engage in the development of relaxation and stress management techniques - meditation practices, physical exercises, special breathing patterns, herbal tea, etc.

3. Try to avoid the group of smokers at first, this will allow you to more effectively resist the temptation. Go to establishments where smoking is prohibited.

4. Tell as many people as possible about your intention - this will be an additional incentive to overcome the habit.

5. Try to distract yourself when thinking about a cigarette - creativity, sports, books, music, a walk, etc. At the same time, choose activities that do not provoke intellectual and emotional stress.

6. Write a list of the benefits of living without cigarettes. Come back to it whenever you feel like smoking.

7. Find a like-minded person - if possible, try to support each other, joint efforts will bring greater results.

8. Analyze significant images of smokers - in life, cinema, literature. What would a hero look like without a cigarette? Most likely, he would not have lost his charm or charisma, but, on the contrary, he would have looked more independent. Many images are "imprinted" in the mind with a certain set of associations, which in