5 stupidest reasons to start smoking

Major efforts to reduce tobacco use have been underway for a long time. Even before the most recent major public ban was enacted, restaurants and other establishments had no smoking signs to cater to both sections of their public.

These days, those no-go signs also include an image of an electronic cigarette, meaning that vaping, in certain places, is prohibited.

Despite major studies showing that smoking causes an incredible number of deaths, at a rate of 5 million per year, non-smokers are still convinced to inhale that first smoke which can and usually does, lead to dangerous and lifelong addiction.

This doesn’t even take into account the financial costs…

5 common reasons why people smoke

So, why did a large part of the population start smoking?

While there are certainly studies showing that smoking can be related to income levels, it certainly does not exclude those in higher income brackets from smoking.

Celebrities and even presidents have definitely been lifelong smokers.

1. Imitation of people considered a model

As a young, impressionable adult, it’s a natural instinct to look up to (and copy) those who are most influential to us. It also becomes natural to mirror their actions and sometimes their choices. Even though an adult may tell a growing teenager that smoking is dangerous and addictive, if he does so with a puff of smoke coming out of the corner of his mouth, those words mean very little. It’s probably fair to say that a good number of adults work hard to quit smoking before their children are impressionable enough to notice and do the same.

However, it doesn’t always have to be the parents. Many children are strongly influenced by celebrities and other public figures.

If these figures are often caught smoking off-screen, young adults may try to do the same.

2. Pressure from the group you belong to (e.g. Colleagues).

While this may seem like a “stupid” idea to emerging adults, peer pressure is a real issue when it comes to teen smokers. We all know that even the most independent children can fall prey to an overwhelming amount of nudging to make a bad choice.

However, peer pressure does not only apply to teenagers, there are even some adults who can be pressured by their peers to smoke. It can be common in work environments where all the smokers seem to congregate during breaks.

Education is the best tool to use in the fight against peer pressure. Make sure your loved ones understand the negative effects of tobacco use, addiction, and the other heavy costs of smoking.

While there may be no way to rule out the tobacco industry’s advertising that smoking is safe, exciting, and even glamorous, continued knowledge of the true effects of smoking on the body and the pocketbook may be the best argument against it. which we all have.

3. Psychological dependence

Some said that after inhaling the first smoke, as a test, they felt more alert, while at the same time being calmed by the effects or actions of smoking.

The whole “I need a smoke” thing isn’t really just lip service to those who can and will find reasons to support a deeper, more basic need; their dependence on people, substances, and other elements to survive. Instead of addressing the issue of psychological addiction, many will continue to see smoking as some kind of “cure” for anxiety, depression, or even hyperactivity.

The problem is the existence of the need for a crutch, support that must be addressed. Those who fail to address this mental health problem when it arises and turn to smoke instead will do the same when they quit smoking and turn to another addiction, their mental problem remaining unresolved.

This is not to say that smoking is a ‘problem escape drug’. It certainly isn’t. Hundreds of thousands of smokers will never abuse a drug other than nicotine.

4. Weight control

Although smoking is certainly not a well-supported method of weight control, it is certainly a reason cited by those asked why they started smoking. Smoking suppresses the appetite for many, as does caffeine.

However, smoking makes the physical activity even more difficult, thus negating any other type of weight control method.

5. Anxiety control

Many smokers, and usually those who find it easier to quit, will cite anxiety as the reason they started smoking.

This anxiety can be anything from being left alone with their thoughts for too long, to those who say they “need to do something with their hands” to alleviate personal or even social anxieties.

While this sort of falls under the psychological addiction factor, it can also be a separate issue that other options, as simple as a stress ball, can cure.

Like psychological addiction for the underlying causes, it will require professional attention as well as physiological and emotional addiction.

While getting into the habit of smoking is certainly not stupid, the reasons why we do it, looking back and trying to figure out when we got it, as well as addressing the real issues behind why we smoke now, it certainly can be.