Comments on: You, Too, Can Quit Smoking http://www.bloggernews.net/17444 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:16:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: ihwgdkm tfzvy http://www.bloggernews.net/17444#comment-648405 ihwgdkm tfzvy Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:05:58 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/17444#comment-648405 dicmqgse ehdc mlexwqbk zmtocakvu jaspobxr nydw tjgivmczn dicmqgse ehdc mlexwqbk zmtocakvu jaspobxr nydw tjgivmczn

]]> By: John R. Polito http://www.bloggernews.net/17444#comment-35952 John R. Polito Wed, 06 Jun 2007 15:40:48 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/17444#comment-35952 Congratulations Carol on your continuing freedom, but I'm afraid we're dealing with a bit more than simply "habituated behavior" as we've only arrested our chemical dependency upon smoking nicotine, not killed. The true measure of nicotine's power isn't in how hard it is to quit but how easy it is to relapse. Although not pleasant to think of ourselves as true drug addicts in every sense, the primary difference between the nicotine addict's alert dopamine high and the heroin addict's numb dopamine high is that we hang out at convenience stores while they fill prisons. Both of our brain's pay-attention pathways, the minds priorities teacher, have been taken hostage by an external chemical that makes that, while still actively feeding, made that next fix our #1 priority in life, more important than food, friends, our health and life itself. Your comments about 3 minute crave episodes when serious time distortion can make the minutes feel like hours, and 3 days needed to detox all nicotine and reach peak withdrawal is on the mark but your recommendation about keeping cigarettes handy, although it worked for you, is extremely danagerous for most. It's like telling someone on suicide watch to carry a loaded gun so that they can prove they can. If those mini panic attacks are each less than 3 minutes its nice to try and build in as much delay in obtaining that potential relapse smoke as possible. I'd recommend that visitors to your site download and read the free PDF quitting book entitled "Never Take Another Puff" by Joel Spitzer of Chicago who has taught full-time cessation for more than 30 years. It's loaded with recovery insights. http://www.whyquit.com/joel/ Still just one rule determining which side of the bars we'll spend the balance of life ... no nicotine just one day at a time, Never Take Another Puff, Dip or Chew! Breathe deep, hug hard, live long, John R. Polito Nicotine Cessation Educator Congratulations Carol on your continuing freedom, but I’m afraid we’re dealing with a bit more than simply “habituated behavior” as we’ve only arrested our chemical dependency upon smoking nicotine, not killed. The true measure of nicotine’s power isn’t in how hard it is to quit but how easy it is to relapse. Although not pleasant to think of ourselves as true drug addicts in every sense, the primary difference between the nicotine addict’s alert dopamine high and the heroin addict’s numb dopamine high is that we hang out at convenience stores while they fill prisons. Both of our brain’s pay-attention pathways, the minds priorities teacher, have been taken hostage by an external chemical that makes that, while still actively feeding, made that next fix our #1 priority in life, more important than food, friends, our health and life itself.

Your comments about 3 minute crave episodes when serious time distortion can make the minutes feel like hours, and 3 days needed to detox all nicotine and reach peak withdrawal is on the mark but your recommendation about keeping cigarettes handy, although it worked for you, is extremely danagerous for most. It’s like telling someone on suicide watch to carry a loaded gun so that they can prove they can. If those mini panic attacks are each less than 3 minutes its nice to try and build in as much delay in obtaining that potential relapse smoke as possible.

I’d recommend that visitors to your site download and read the free PDF quitting book entitled “Never Take Another Puff” by Joel Spitzer of Chicago who has taught full-time cessation for more than 30 years. It’s loaded with recovery insights.

http://www.whyquit.com/joel/

Still just one rule determining which side of the bars we’ll spend the balance of life … no nicotine just one day at a time, Never Take Another Puff, Dip or Chew!

Breathe deep, hug hard, live long,

John R. Polito
Nicotine Cessation Educator

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