Addiction and smoking cessation

Dependency

The main substance responsible for tobacco addiction is nicotine. Through its action on the brain, nicotine generates both physical and psychological dependence, with several facets (gestural, behavioral, social). These two forms of dependence are very strong: the power of nicotine is as strong as that of heroin or morphine, and tobacco use has the perverse effect of disrupting social life very little, or even facilitating it, which doesn't really motivate you to stop.

Physical dependence		Psychological dependence
When inhaled, nicotine takes around 10 seconds to reach a region of the brain linked to pleasure, where it binds to receptor cells. A single cigarette, which a smoker will draw on around 15 times, represents as many consecutive "shoots" of nicotine into the brain. In a new smoker, under such an avalanche of nicotine, the brain paradoxically changes: nicotine receptors multiply and at the same time become less and less sensitive, leading to a growing need for nicotine. After a few years, this phenomenon stabilizes and the smoker reaches his "cruising consumption", which he will generally maintain for the rest of his life... If he stops smoking, the receptors do not disappear for all that. So, in the event of relapse, the smoker will quickly regain his nicotine craving.		When nicotine reaches the brain, it triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter normally produced by the brain when we do things we enjoy or experience pleasurable situations. The release of this substance alone can explain the sense of well-being felt by the smoker, and this sensation will be further accentuated if he or she takes a break from smoking and associates it with other pleasurable things (a cup of coffee, a few minutes' reading, etc.).Habit (many smokers systematically light a cigarette in certain places or under certain circumstances), gestures (smoking is often associated with a way of presenting oneself and behaving in public) and social etiquette (people often smoke in groups, with family or friends) also play an important role in this psychological dependence

Le sevrage

When smokers try to quit, their bodies show symptoms of withdrawal, which creates a great deal of tension. The most severe withdrawal symptoms generally occur during the first week of quitting, but the craving will often persist for months, manifesting itself in headaches, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, coughing and so on. So, if you've decided to stop, don't hesitate to talk to your doctor, as there are a number of techniques that can help you get through this difficult stage.

It's important to remember that even when the sensation of craving is no longer present, and quitting has therefore been successful, an ex-smoker can become addicted again if he or she smokes even one cigarette, sometimes even years after quitting. Freeing yourself from psychological dependence is therefore essential, and to do this you need to learn to please yourself in other ways, to find compensations for quitting smoking, and to organize yourself differently to avoid situations that remind you of the habit of smoking. A great challenge, but well worth the effort!

Good to know

Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked is not a solution, as experiments have shown that smokers unconsciously seek to absorb their usual dose of nicotine. So, if you cut back on the number of cigarettes smoked per day, you'll tend to pull more, inhale more deeply and leave a smaller butt. The same will be true if the smoker switches to diet or lower nicotine cigarettes.
Therefore, even if it's hard, it's better to face the problem head on rather than hide from it..
 
Timetable of benefits of smoking cessation.