11/01/2016
When you think of addicts, what image comes to mind? Do you see dirty and disheveled people huddled on an old mattress in an abandoned building, waiting for the next fix? Do you picture businesspeople huddled outside a city building on a rainy afternoon furtively smoking ci******es? Of course, both these images are accurate, because the ni****ne in to***co is a psychoactive substance that produces patterns of dependence, tolerance and withdrawal â ni****ne use disorders.
Why did you start smoking?
Every pack of ci******es has a warning stating that smoking can be harmful to your health. You are not stupid. You understand this. You feel the harmful effects every time that you cough or have a sore throat, but this has not stopped you from smoking. Why? Because the reasons for smoking are mostly psychological. People are seduced to try to***co by the glamorization of smoking in the movies and in advertisements. Addiction to ni****ne makes it hard to quit smoking once you have started.
Here is a list of the reasons why people start smoking. Look at them carefully and think about your own experience. Most of these reasons are related to how you perceive yourself in the company of others. You generally start smoking in an attempt to change your self-image and appear more attractive, more manly, more feminine, or more intelligent. Sometimes you start smoking in a misguided attempt to calm your nerves, cope with stress, or lose weight, but smoking does not help to solve the source of your problems or to compensate for poor eating habits.
Reasons why people start to use to***co:
On a dare to show that you are not timid or afraid.
To fit with the crowd (all my friends do it)
To appear sophisticated or cool
To be grown-up
To assert your independence
As a sign of protest, rebellion, or to defy authority
Free samples from friends or advertisers
Influences from people you respect and admire
Parents or relatives smoked
Images of famous actors, movie stars, or role models
Famous sports players who use chewing to***co or smoking ci******es.
Famous scientists (Einstein is the prototype of intellectual smokers.
He looks so proud with a pipe in his mouth.)
Portrayals by cigarette advertisements
To calm your nerves
As a kind of âair freshenerâ when using the toilet
For selecting a Constitutional Homoeopathic Medicine, these above mentioned reasons/causes are very helpful. They will guide us to the true nature of a patient. For example a Lycopodium patient will take on this habit of smoking just to impress others and to prove that he is not afraid of anyone, which is contrary to his cowardice nature. A Baryta or Calcarea will follow the herd, âEverybody in my class smokes, so do Iâ. Nitric Acid or Mercurius will go against their authorityâs wish, âHow dare he slap me for having a cigarette, now I will see how he can stop me.â Argentum Nitricum and Arsenic Albumâs own apprehensions and anxieties compel them to start smoking. Natrum Mur or Aurum Met take on smoking just to hide their hidden grief. âLetâs try something new todayâ is in the nature of Medorrhinum and Nux Vomica. Their business tensions and a need of some stimulant make them chain smokers. Caladiumâs desire to be in a euphoric state even just for a few minutes, will compel him to carry on smoking. In order to hide his feeling of inadequacy or incompetence Anacardium will take on this habit. Sulphurâs curious nature will force him to try and understand why so many people smoke, or what will happen after smokingâŚ.. etc etc.
So, this is a way may help towards selecting a constitutional medicine.
How Smoking Affects the Body?
ââŹÂ˘ Heart disease. Smoking is responsible for 30 percent of all heart attacks and cardiovascular deaths.
ââŹÂ˘ Cancer. It is responsible for 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths each year.
ââŹÂ˘ Lung problems. Smoking is responsible for 82 percent of deaths due to emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
ââŹÂ˘ Smoking delays healing of peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.
ââŹÂ˘ Its effects on blood vessels cause chronic pains in the legs (claudication) which can progress to gangrene and amputations of the toes or feet.
ââŹÂ˘ Causes wrinkling of the skin of the face to develop earlier in chronic smokers. On average they look 5 years older than non-smokers of the same age do.
ââŹÂ˘ Smoking also brings on an earlier menopause in women, advancing it by an average of 5 years.
ââŹÂ˘ It reduces womenâs fertility and delays conception after they stop using oral contraceptives.
ââŹÂ˘ It impairs erections in middle-aged and older men and may affect the quality of their s***m. It seems to âsedateâ s***m and to impair their motility. This is reversed after stopping smoking.
ââŹÂ˘ Smoking accelerates the rate of osteoporosis, a disease which causes bones to weaken and fracture more easily.
ââŹÂ˘ Women who smoke during pregnancy damage their unborn child, causing effects that last throughout the childâs life. The risks of miscarriage, premature birth, and death of the baby in its first year of life are all significantly increased.
If we take a fatalistic view of life, nothing is important. However, deep down inside, we feel that even though our life is finite, we can accomplish much. It is this desire to live a long, healthy life with our friends and loved ones that can provide a motivation to quit smoking.
Many smokers feel that they are the masters of their own destiny and that they could quit smoking anytime they want, but then they convince themselves that they enjoy smoking and that they will not quit today. As time passes, the habit becomes ingrained until it becomes a lifestyle and an addiction that causes physical discomfort if stopped. The only way to stop smoking is to overcome the psychological dependence on to***co and the physical addiction to ni****ne. Homoeopathy has quite a wonderful role to play in overcoming both these.
