Autoethnography on the Issue of Smoking - Essay Example

 My brothers smoking experience While researching texts and article written about Autoethnography, I realized that just a few authors who published books about the literature of autoethnography and personal, particularly journals brochures and pamphlets, these authors only talked about the relationship between autoethenography widely. However I could not find any author looking connecting auto the autothenography and personal to Culture and social. It is against these back drop that that I form my objective of bringing into the spot light the connection existing between autoethenography and personal to culture and social using my brother’s smoking experience as an example. Although all my friends thought smoking cigarettes was stylish, I discovered that it is actually a disgusting habit with a lot of health risks. Being in the same high school, my brother and I had mixed reactions towards smoking. Having learnt about the health risks associated with smoking and the urge to try out new things, peer pressure and wanting to fit in, we could not make wise decisions. So like many of our peers we tried out different kinds of drugs including cigarettes, bhang and alcohol because we had this impression that smoking was “cool.” At the time cigarettes where very cheap and a large population of people in the society smoked. The companies that sold cigarettes too had very tempting advertisements, with a name like candy and kings. After pretending for a long time, I finally quit smoking as I was not yet addicted but still continued hanging out my brother's friends because they were the “cool” teenagers in school. Although I tried to advise my brother to quit, he could not listen to me and I never told anyone about his habits. Smoking can be cured because we all have the power to control ourselves if we are serious about it. Very few people get to successfully quit smoking and the earlier you quit the easier it is. Many people have tried self-discipline or tried to refocus their attention, or even use pills but have not been successful, my brother being one of them. There are several forms of tobacco use. These include the smoking of cigarettes which is the most commonly used form of consumption, chewing tobacco through the mouth, cigars smoking, and snuff which is snuffed through the nose. College students choose to smoke cigarettes and an occasional cigar for fun than snuff. My brother like many teenagers smokes cigarettes. College students choose to smoke for a variety of reasons. Studies have shown that it is the depressed college students who are likely to smoke and more prone to difficulties in quitting more than the non-depressed students. 31.9% of college student smoker's perception of their behavior is that it helps to alleviate depression. Although my brother tried to quit, he still continued to smoke even when we joined college. He smoked mostly when he was in stressful situations to reduce anxiety. This is because he did not finish his assignments on time, he started getting low grades as a result of drinking and staying out late with his friends partying and generally he started being lazy. Smoking is associated with drinking alcohol in colleges. Alcohol is an accelerating factor to smoking, mostly in campuses where its use is pronounce. This is because smoking is believed to facilitate social interactions with the opposite sex as advertised mostly by tobacco firms using sexual images of males and females. Smoking after drinking is leads to the formation of reorientation and attempts to decelerate the state . Some smokers do enjoy smoking as they drink as it allows common smokers to partake in the smoking without many negative perception from their peers. Although smoking is stigmatizes during daily life of the student in colleges, it is still remain an acceptable activity at the parties, more so under a combination with alcoholic drinks. It is clear that the majority of alcoholics smoke. According to Evelyn Lutz between 80 and 95 percent of alcoholics smoke cigarettes, more than a whole population. Social approval is also a contributing factor toward students smoking in college campuses. This can be from friends, teachers, family or even neighbors. College students that need for approval for smoking are more often concern about negative evaluation. Having grew from a Christian family, many of our family friends and neighbors were knew us to be disciplined and God fearing. My brothers smoking habits led to friends and neighbors shunning him and thinking of him as spoilt teenager who was going to give drugs to their children. This also put pressure on our parents as they learnt that he was using drugs and their trials to get him to quit. There are many more reasons why college students engage in smoking habits like some women use smoking as a weight loosing tool. This is because the nicotine in cigarettes suppresses their appetite leading to them dieting as a result of the pressure to be slim for social approval. There are also the social smokers, whom the college students consider to be smokers in social places and activities as a tool for socializing rather than being dependent on nicotine. Social smokers are unaware that most of them get addicted to it, neither do worried about social acceptability of their habits. There are several hazards of smoking cigarettes even though it is the only preventable cause of death worldwide. Many people pass on as a result of tobacco smoking, which studies have shown to be more than deaths from HIV and AIDs, illegal use of drugs, alcohol, the motor vehicle injuries, the suicides, and the murders combined . It leads to diseases that affect the most important parts of our bodies such as the heart, lungs, the liver, the mouth causing diseases such as lung cancer, cancer of the oral cavity and esophagus, bronchitis and many more. it causes an estimated 90% of patients lung cancer to die in men and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women and it initiates reduced blood by narrowing the arteries and puts smokers at risk of developing peripheral vascular disease (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004). Tobacco causes several types of cancer. The risk arising, from lung cancer below the age 85 is around 22.1% for a male smoker and about 11.9% for a female smoker. The conforming estimates for enduring nonsmokers are about 1.1% likely to die from lung cancer before the age of 85 for a man from the European descent, and about 0.8% probability woman. As one smokes, long term coverage to compounds in the smoke such as cyanide and carbon monoxide, these are the main compounds blamed the pulmonary damage and for inelasticity of the alveoli, consequently leading to Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD and emphysema, this happens as a result of smoking, a permanent, and incurable, reduction of the pulmonary capacity mainly characterized by wheezing, damage to the lungs shortness of breath, tenacious coughs containing sputum, and including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking tobacco leads to several quick reactions in the blood vessels leading to a rise in the heart rate of up to 30 percent within the first 10 minutes due to the reduced capability of blood to carry oxygen. Prolonged smoking leads to an increases probability of getting heart diseases, stroke and the disease of peripheral vascular. Due to the narrowing of the blood vessels which might lead to them blocking resulting in a stroke, a heart attack and high blood pressure. Another common condition is oral cancer which affects the mouth, lips, throat and inflammation of the teeth. Susceptibility to infectious diseases is high, especially in lungs. “Research have shown that by Smoking over 20cigarettes per day increase the risk of contracting tuberculosis by more than three to five times” (Mark 365). There is a very high degree of female infertility as a result of smoking and the number of times a woman smokes daily affects the range of damage that can be done to her ovaries. This is because nicotine affects the body’s capability to produce estrogen, a hormone that facilitates ovulation, embryo transportation and uterine blood flow leading to smokers becoming more probable to being infertile than non-smokers. Studies have shown that there are higher levels of stress amongst smokers than non-smokers. There exists a positive relationship in between salivary cotinine levels and psychological distress in both the non-smoking and smoking adults, demonstrating that both the firsthand and secondhand smokers exposure might lead to higher mental stress levels (Davies 201). Thus if denied nicotine or if the consumption is irregular they exhibit signs such as dry mouth and rapid heart. Smoking is also related to several other anxiety disorders other than depression. Tobacco consumption and exposure causes several diseases and also affects ones close friends and relatives while smoking. They become second hand smokers. Second hand smoke is smoke exhaled from the lungs mixed with smoke from the cigarette. Second hand smokers inhale the smoke involuntarily and these leads to several severe health related diseases such as asthma and respiratory diseases. There is a 25% chance increase in risk of death to non-smokers living with smokers. My brothers smoking habits can lead to a 25-30% risk of the society at large, his friends and family getting heart diseases and lung cancer. Recent research have shown that around 38,000 second hand smokers die each year, in which 3,400 die from the concur of the lung cancer. Although there have been some laws passed in some states that outlaw smoking in public places such as restaurants, bars, airplanes and offices, most people cannot escape second hand smoke, especially children and spouses of smokers. “In as much as some parents or the general public might try to control the smoke or places that they use to smoke so as not to affect the non-smokers, tobacco contains almost 4000 different kinds of chemical compounds, of which 50, cause cancer and they remain floating in the air even several minutes after one has dimmed his or her cigarette” (Zebroski 76). After spending six years under the addiction of cigarettes and alcohol, plus the stress that our parents had, my brother accepted to get help in a rehabilitation center not very far from home. He left on a Monday and he was supposed to stay in rehabilitation for two months. After staying there for the entire period, he came home, well-educated of the dangers and risks associated with his former lifestyle. He resumed his education and kept busy avoiding relapsing. For a few months he did smoke or drink at all but then he started, quit and started again. On the first occasion, he lasted five months and the second time three months. Every time he started smoking, he told us that he was gaining weight more than he wanted. This was because most smokers live in denial about their habits and what they do to us. Recently there have been several methods put in place to effectively regulate the number of smokers in both the public and schools. “A tremendous increase in cigarette taxes in many states has led to an increase in the cost of every packet of cigarette, resulting in a reduction in consumption” (Zebroski 23). Many colleges and university campuses have banned smoking in the campuses plus the surrounding areas and smoke-free policies and laws within public areas have decreased the amount of smoking. In a 2011 study evaluating the effect of free smoke college policies on students smoking manners and outlooks, it was established that those exposed to these environment policy show noteworthy satisfactory variations in smoking, smoking norms, and perceptions of peer tobacco use. Evidence also indicates that restrictions on smoking in student housings decrease college students’ likelihood of starting or increasing smoking (Davies 200). Eventually after realizing that no matter how good you look on the outside the inside is filled with tarred up lungs and deteriorating body organs, he started changing. He got sick a couple of times, during which every time he feared he might have been diagnosed with cancer. But he was diagnosed with bronchitis. He was treated and discharged. Later smoking was painful and made the condition worse. From that day he quit smoking and drinking to date, that doesn’t mean that he never tried smoking again. Because of he hasn’t smoked for a while, the smoke smells nice to him but thankfully he hasn’t gone back to his old habits. And he has become health, saves money and he has improved our family’s life in so many ways. Most of his friends are still drunkards and they smoke very heavily. “This is because tobacco is very addictive and financial draining ones finances leading to them buying cheaper and cheaper products to satisfy their addiction” (Wohlfei 231). Right now they look older than my brother because of poor health and eating habits. This is also attributed to the gradual damage of ,their health over time, with signs that include shortness of breath, “smokers” cough and deteriorating skin and bones. Some of them are in prison for several crimes including stealing to support their habits. More so, since the ban of cigarette smoking in the public places, most of his fellow smokers are always destined in a corner with each other. In conclusion there is no miracle that cures or that will stop someone from smoking. In as much as one is supported, gets treatment or checks into a rehabilitation centers, in the end it is only up to you and being strong willed. Because you cannot make somebody else quit smoking, irrespective of the way you love them or want them to, it is always the smokers will that will be supported by family, rehabilitation centers and treatment that will enable them to quit. Because there are several benefits of stopping smoking; to be healthy and live longer, to become an example to others, to stop smelling cigarettes, to have better fitness, to get a better job and many more. Therefore is you are a smoker out there who wants to stop smoking, you should have the will power, courage strength and perseverance. Works Cited Davies, Mincs. Smoking and tuberculosis: the epidemiological association and immune-pathogenesis. Grenada: Willis.2006.Print. Personal Narratives Group. Interpreting of Women’s Lives: the Feminist Theory and other Personal Narratives. Bloomington: The Indiana University Press . 1989.Print Wohlfeil, Whelan. Introspection into a Consumer' Experiential Consumption of 'Pride & Prejudice. European Advances in Consumer Research. Nairobi: KIE. 2008. Print. Zebroski, Nancy. Ethnographic Writing for the Critical Consciousness. Uasin: Vicks Publishers. 1987. Print. Mark Hurlbert. Social Issues in English Classroom. Urbana. Kampala: Makerere University. 1992. Print Read More