A Discussion of Difficulties and Remediation - Research Paper Example

Section/# Smoking Cessation: A Discussion of Difficulties and Remediation Although it is not often realized,nicotine, and by extension smoking cigarettes, ranks among one of the most addictive types of drugs that have yet been measured. Whereas it is true that the likes of heroin and cocaine are slightly more addictive as compared to nicotine, LSD, ecstasy, barbiturates, and even methadone rank below nicotine on the overall scale of vindictiveness. From such an understanding, it can readily be understood that smoking cessation is something that is extremely hard for an individual to engage in. Whereas there are detoxification centers for a litany of different types of illicit drug users, the overall resources and focus that is placed upon stepping away from nicotine and ending cigarette smoking is not nearly as widely promoted. As a function of seeking to understand the overall level of addiction and difficulties in smoking cessation that exists, the following analysis will discuss issues pertaining to triggers that can encourage an individual to begin smoking, withdrawal symptoms that further encourage the use of nicotine products, the role that the media plays, the power of addiction in tandem with an oral fixation, and the role that the active addictive property of nicotine plays with respect to the entire process of attempting to quit smoking. Firstly, anytime that an individual seeks to reduce their dependence upon a particularly addictive substance, the issue of triggers is something that must be considered. Ultimately, in terms of cigarette smoking, triggers can be anything from a group of friends and that one since time with to the process of finishing a meal and desiring to begin smoking again. Naturally, as these triggers are so commonplace, it is especially difficult for the individual to step over them and to rid themselves of smoking entirely. Moreover, these triggers become nearly second nature the longer that an individual smokes during their lifetime. This is so much the case that these triggers can in fact become something of a second nature; something in which the individual has seemingly little or no control over abating. Another relevant concern has to do with the fact that withdrawal symptoms are very much associated with any individual that seeks to discontinue smoking. Although it may be understood that withdrawal symptoms are somehow unique to opiates or other hard Street drugs, the fact of the matter is that nicotine itself represents nicotine itself has a high number of withdrawal symptoms that are exhibited in different ways depending upon the overall duration of cigarette smoking and/4 the addictive nature/personality of the individual in question (Weinberger et al., 2010). One of the most common withdrawal symptoms that is exhibited with respect to the secession of smoking is concentric upon an inability to concentrate, feel called, or focus upon any particular task without the prevalence of nicotine within the system. As such, one of the main reasons that an individual who attempts to stop smoking experiences is a situation in which the withdrawal symptoms that they face are so severe that they once again return to smoking as a means of ameliorating these. Although it is impossible to create a running list of all withdrawal symptoms that might be an individual who experiences nicotine withdrawal, some of the most common involved headache, frustration, irritability, tremors, and a great many others. As has previously been stated, the severity of these is contingent upon many personal and environmental factors; however, regardless of these factors, the individual that experiences withdrawals after attempting to stop smoking is faced with an extraordinarily difficult task. Another salient reason that many people have difficulty quitting smoking has to do with the way in which smoking is understood within certain aspects of society. Since the mass-marketing of cigarettes came to be widespread within the United States and elsewhere throughout the world, smoking has partially been understood, at least by certain segments within society, as rebellious and necessarily “sexy”. As such, individuals within certain demographics find it difficult as the group of peers that they have formed invariably judges them as no longer completely part of the social dynamic that they had previously been a member of. Although this is of course not true with respect to each and every individual that attempts to quit smoking, is invariably true that peer pressure has played a profound role in encouraging many people to begin smoking; while at the same time encouraging many people he smoking. Regardless of the negative health ramifications that it portends, people are still encouraged to continue smoking due to the fact that it promotes an image of themselves that they feel is on the whole positive (Shmueli et al., 2008). During the 1930s, a significant shift in media representation was noted. Prior to this point in time, the only means of advertising was by posters in shop windows or paid space within a newspaper. However, with more and more magazines being consumed, and the radio having a profound impact upon the way in which society understood current events and created celebrities, cigarette companies began to delve into these resources as a means of promoting their products (McDuffy et al., 2010). Perhaps some of the most recognizable types of advertising that were engaged during this time was with regard to the full page glossy advertisements that were included in a litany of different magazines during the era. Although it is true that the same medium is used today, the target demographic is different. This is especially important due to the fact that it shows the range and extent to which the cigarette company was willing to extend their marketing outreach to ensure that they appealed to the maximum number of people possible. Further, many researchers who have discussed and studied cigarette smoking and the addiction that is related to it have come to the understanding that nicotine addiction via cigarette smoking is somewhat unique as compared to the other addictions that could be discussed. For instance, many researchers appointed to the fact that the oral fixation that is evident within regular smokers is an extraordinarily difficult psychological and physiological process to break free from. Whereas there are many individuals who are compulsive eaters, the oral fixation that is oftentimes associated with cigarette smoking is something that encourages an individual to keep something on their lips or near their mouth merely continually (Gonzales-Pinto et al., 2011). As such, even if the individual is able to break free from the triggers that have thus far been discussed, even if they are able to avoid the peer pressure of those members within their own communities that continue to smoke, even if they are able to resist the withdrawal effects that nicotine provide for their body, the oral fixation that might have developed during their months or years of smoking is not something that can easily be defeated. Ultimately, of all of the factors that have thus far been discussed, the oral fixation that is evident within many cigarette smokers is something that never fully leaves in the individual. According to the information that has thus far been presented, it is clear and apparent that a great many difficulties and impediments stand in the way of someone who wishes to quit smoking. Although it is true that society has come a long way over the past several decades cigarette smoking is largely understood as a negative determinant to health, the pressures, concerns, and physical realities that had been represented within this brief discussion are nonetheless still salient and impact upon the overall success rate that an individual might hope to achieve with respect to pending smoking. Realizing that each of these factors play an important role in the overall success of an individual giving up cigarette smoking, governments and independent groups around the world have begun to raise awareness and allocate resources in the hopes that a level of progressive change an understanding of nicotine addiction, and by extension cigarette smoking, the help individuals who have struggled in breaking the habit to ultimately achieve a degree of final success. Unfortunately, regardless of the amount of money, time, or effort that is allocated to ending cigarette addiction, the most important element is with regard to the result of the individual who intends on quitting (Marques-Vidal et al., 2011). History is littered with examples of individuals that purpose to quit but ultimately succumbed to one of several of the issues that have been discussed at some depth within this brief analysis. Sadly, unless the individual is resolute in their determination and continues to try and try again, the overall success ratio of quitting smoking is expected to be relatively low. Yet, the individual who wishes to end smoking within the current era faces a number of key advantages that individuals of past decades. Firstly, smoking is understood to a more complete degree than ever before in history of mankind. Secondly, the resources that exist for those individuals who wish to in smoking are higher now than they had ever been before. Finally, smoking is understood as destructive to overall health and widely shunned by a larger percentage of the population as compared to any time in past history. These three factors alone necessarily help an individual who would otherwise struggle with ending smoking in and of themselves. References Duffy, S, Scheumann, A, Fowler, K, Darling-Fisher, C, & Terrell, J 2010, Perceived difficulty quitting predicts enrollment in a smoking-cessation program for patients with head and neck cancer, Oncology Nursing Forum, 37, 3, pp. 349-356, CINAHL Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 April 2014. Gonzalez-Pinto, A, Alberich, S, de Azua, S, Martinez-Cengotitabengoa, M, Fernandez, M, Gutierrez, M, Saenz, M, Besga, A, Galdos, P, & de Leon, J 2011., Psychosis and smoking cessation: Difficulties in quitting associated with sex and substance abuse, Psychiatry Research, 195, 1-2, pp. 45-50, Science Citation Index, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 April 2014. Marques-Vidal, P, Melich-Cerveira, J, Paccaud, F, Waeber, G, Vollenweider, P, & Cornuz, J 2011, Prevalence and factors associated with difficulty and intention to quit smoking in Switzerland, BMC Public Health, 11, 1, pp. 227-235, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 April 2014. Shmueli, D, Fletcher, L, Hall, S, Hall, S, & Prochaska, J 2008, Changes in psychiatric patients thoughts about quitting smoking during a smoke-free hospitalization, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 10, 5, pp. 875-881, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 April 2014. WEINBERGER, A, MAZURE, C, & MCKEE, S 2010, Perceived risks and benefits of quitting smoking in non-treatment seekers,Addiction Research & Theory, 18, 4, pp. 456-463, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 April 2014. Read More