What constitutes 'social smoking'? And what differentiates a 'Social Smoker' from a regular smoker? The number of cigarettes? The environment they smoke in? There are perhaps no fixed definitions and parameters for differentiating between the the two categories of smokers. A lot of research suggests that there are no separate categories. One is either a smoker or a non-smoker. There is no such thing as a social smoker.
Many people use the phrase social smoking to suggest a behavior that includes smoking very occasionally, most commonly while drinking alcohol, smoking a limited number of cigarettes in a day, smoking for pleasure which implies smoking 'finer' cigarettes or cigars or pipes and smoking in selected environments in the company of selected people. The intent is to control one's nicotine intake and not allow the nicotine to control the person. However, the line is very thin and very often, smoking and not getting addicted to nicotine is merely wishful thinking.
The effects of social smoking
If you have been calling yourself a social smoker all this while, you may also have been thinking that you are not subject to the painful consequences that regular habitual smokers are faced with. Here's a quick fact list that should also disillusion and enlighten so-called social smokers.
- Social Smokers are at equal risk of blood vessel damage as are regular smokers. Every puff of smoke seeps quickly into the bloodstream and forms clots which can constrict arteries. This is true not just for regular and social smokers but also for passive smokers who inhale smoke blown out by smokers.
- Women on hormonal birth control methods who smoke even occasionally put themselves at greater risk of heart diseases, blood clots, stroke and forms of liver cancer.
- Pregnant women who smoke even occasionally are more likely to give birth to unhealthy babies than pregnant women who do not smoke.
- While social smokers may feel safe with regard to lung cancer, fact remains that every puff of cigarette, containing thousands of chemicals quickly reaches almost every part of the body through the blood, causing damage to almost every organ in the body.
- Even an occasional puff or passive smoking could act as a trigger for heart attack in people, due to the formation of blood clots.
- The greatest danger from social smoking lies in the fact that people who claim to smoke occasionally are very likely to take on smoking as a habit. This is observed in almost everyone who initially smokes 'only when drunk'' or 'only in certain situations' and later starts smoking in almost any environment.
Stub it now!
If you claim to be smoking fewer cigarettes than your friends, then it should be easier for you to quit. If you claim that you are not addicted to nicotine, the best way to prove it is to quit altogether.
- Count the number of cigarettes you are smoking in a week. You may be surprised that you are smoking more than you think. Aim to cut down on this number rapidly every week and then stop smoking altogether.
- Limit the environments where you allow yourself to smoke. Ensure that you do not smoke at workplace or at home or certain other places. Keep that part of your life smoke-free and then do the same to other environments.
- Limit your alcohol intake if you feel like smoking when you are drunk. Alternatively, ensure that you cut out all means of cigarette supply before you sit down to drink so that you are not tempted after you are a few pegs down.
- Ask your friends to help you quit. Your colleagues, your family and friends can be very helpful in helping you kick the habit by denying you cigarettes or by diverting your attention whenever you want to smoke.
- Practice attention diversions yourself. Whenever you are bored or stressed and feel you want to 'socialize' now, understand that it's the nicotine calling you. You were never supposed to fall for that. The only way to control nicotine is to abstain from it.
Certain habits need to be nipped in the bud and smoking is first on that list. Quit now and find other ways to socialize.
Best Regards
Prakash Nair
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