According to Garry kavanagh answering to a question asked by Micheal Adeniyi on quora.
Smoking is both highly addictive, and highly habit forming. It is important to make the distinction, as they both operate on different neurological and psychological mechanisms. They are habit forming because people construct little rituals around smoking… they have specific times that they smoke, which reinforces the desire to smoke at these times. Also, until relatively recently, smoking was seen as ‘siocially acceptable’. There are not too many highly addictive and physically damaging drugs that have both the acceptance of society and the massive marketing weight of the tobacco industry driving their use.
The addictive nature is due to their effect on neurotransmitters involved in feeling good. Nicotine, the primary addictive constituent of tobacco, is chemically very similar to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter which among other things, is implicated arousal and the reward system. In general it has effects on feeling of welllbeing.
Habitual smoking causes downregulation of nicotinic acetycholine receptors, due to the abundance of agonistic chemicals (nicotine). Due to the downregulation, the body’s natural acetylcholine production is not enough to provide adequate stimulation, and thus in the absence of nicotine people feel bad; lethargic, unhappy and empty. These are strong motivators to do what one can to acquire more of the receptor agonist, and the easiest way to do this is smoke.
My dad, long after he stopped smoking said that cigarettes are the ‘all purpose drug’. Feel bad? Have a cigarette. Feel like celebrating? Have a cigarette.
Why they start in the first place? That is the mystery.
Another analyst Nadia Kawaii, HCA at National Health Service
Why do people drive rather than walk, when it could result in health implications? Why do people cliff dive, when it could be life threatening? Why do people risk life savings on a gamble, when they know there can be just as much chance they will lose it all? Why watch horror movies when they could scare us? Why
Why do we risk our money, relationships, our lives?
I don't mean to answer your question with more questions, I'm just highlighting the similarities between the questions.
The reason why is for our own convenience, or to feel the thrill and exhilaration of getting away with something we very well couldn't have gotten away with. We feel a sense of achievement when we conquer climbing that mountain, or winning that bet. It can be dangerously addictive. We eat McDonald's because we think it tastes good. We smoke because it relieves stress which may be more life threatening than smoking. We like to take our chances.
Smoking is both highly addictive, and highly habit forming. It is important to make the distinction, as they both operate on different neurological and psychological mechanisms. They are habit forming because people construct little rituals around smoking… they have specific times that they smoke, which reinforces the desire to smoke at these times. Also, until relatively recently, smoking was seen as ‘siocially acceptable’. There are not too many highly addictive and physically damaging drugs that have both the acceptance of society and the massive marketing weight of the tobacco industry driving their use.
The addictive nature is due to their effect on neurotransmitters involved in feeling good. Nicotine, the primary addictive constituent of tobacco, is chemically very similar to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter which among other things, is implicated arousal and the reward system. In general it has effects on feeling of welllbeing.
Habitual smoking causes downregulation of nicotinic acetycholine receptors, due to the abundance of agonistic chemicals (nicotine). Due to the downregulation, the body’s natural acetylcholine production is not enough to provide adequate stimulation, and thus in the absence of nicotine people feel bad; lethargic, unhappy and empty. These are strong motivators to do what one can to acquire more of the receptor agonist, and the easiest way to do this is smoke.
My dad, long after he stopped smoking said that cigarettes are the ‘all purpose drug’. Feel bad? Have a cigarette. Feel like celebrating? Have a cigarette.
Why they start in the first place? That is the mystery.
Another analyst Nadia Kawaii, HCA at National Health Service
Why do people drive rather than walk, when it could result in health implications? Why do people cliff dive, when it could be life threatening? Why do people risk life savings on a gamble, when they know there can be just as much chance they will lose it all? Why watch horror movies when they could scare us? Why
Why do we risk our money, relationships, our lives?
I don't mean to answer your question with more questions, I'm just highlighting the similarities between the questions.
The reason why is for our own convenience, or to feel the thrill and exhilaration of getting away with something we very well couldn't have gotten away with. We feel a sense of achievement when we conquer climbing that mountain, or winning that bet. It can be dangerously addictive. We eat McDonald's because we think it tastes good. We smoke because it relieves stress which may be more life threatening than smoking. We like to take our chances.
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