What are the reasons why someone smokes?
I have dedicated a full chapter to this very question (Understanding, Why Do We Smoke?) in my book 7 Secrets To Quit Smoking. We asked many smokers these two questions as follows-
1. When did you smoke your first cigarette and why?
2. Why do you think you continued smoking after your first encounter with a cigarette?
Here are some of the answers to the first question of why they smoked their first cigarette as follows,
Raghav said his father was a chain smoker and he started smoking when he was 14.
Natasha said she smoked her first cigarette at 24 with some colleagues at the office.
Krishnan said that he just wanted to try it and smoked for the first time at the age of 17.
Harry thought smoking was just cool and he smoked his first cigarette at the age of 16.
Surya picked it up at the age of 25 and his colleagues at the office used to take smoke breaks and he joined them one fine day.
Diksha thought smoking helped in keeping her awake during the preparations for her exams and she started at the age of 19.
Ravi smoked his first cigarette at a party at the age of 22.
And so on.
Then we asked these people why they continued smoking after the first use despite knowing that it was harmful to their health, they replied as follows-
Raghav said he loved smoking and it was exciting for him.
Natasha said smoking helped her with the stress of the intense work at the office.
Krishnan said smoking helped him with managing boredom.
Harry said smoking was cool and he just liked it.
Surya said going for a cigarette break cleared his thoughts in a second.
Dikha said smoking helped her to concentrate.
Ravi thought smoking helped him in managing stress.
So they smoked for the first time in their life as they were curious about it. Then over time they got addicted to it and continued smoking by associating mythical benefits with smoking.
Do you want to quit smoking naturally? Let’s check your immunity against smoking with the Smoking Immunity Metre (SIM) Exercise.
