Discover how to overcome physiological and mental nicotine addiction without suffering a relapse in your desire to stop smoking.

1. How to Overcome Physical and
Psychological Nicotine
Addiction
By
http://2stopsmokingtips.com

2. Introduction
• Addiction can be defined as a compulsive and
habit-forming dependence on a substance like
tobacco, alcohol, drugs, food, alcohol, sex, etc.
• Addiction means “to say yes” or “consent to.”
The word, “addiction” is obtained from the Latin
word, “addicere,” which means to surrender to
someone or something. Therefore, an addict is
somebody who has surrendered or given him or
herself to a substance, physical object or a
person.

3. Addiction Controls the Brain
• Addiction wields a prolonged and compelling
influence on the brain. It manifests in three major
ways: intense craving for the substance of
addiction, failure to curtail or control its use, and
continued usage in spite of harmful outcomes.
• There are many forms of addiction. Tobacco
addiction is just one of them. Now, why is
tobacco addictive? It is addictive because it
contains nicotine.

4. Qualities of Nicotine
• Nicotine is a natural substance that can be found
in tobacco but you can call it the dangerous drug
that hooks us on cigarettes. For starters,
• Nicotine is exceedingly addictive
• It modifies and freaks the brain in unimaginable
ways
• Aside the human brain, it wields a subtle
influence on the smoker’s body.
• Tobacco is the only plant in the whole wide
world that has nicotine in it.

5. Qualities of Nicotine(2)
• Nicotine produces a “ pleasurable ” feeling on the brain
by stimulating the production of endorphins (cocaine
produces a related chemical effect). Endorphins can be
called pain killers. They block the sending of pain signals
in your body and bring about a general feeling of
euphoria…
• But, just like heroin or cocaine :
• Nicotine creates a need for daily ingestion of higher
quantities to attain the same level of well-being. So, we
can safely say, it is habit-forming.
• Nicotine creates a physical addiction that brings about
bitter withdrawal symptoms when the supply of nicotine
to the body is cut off.

6. Nicotine Addiction is Also Powerful!
• Even if these withdrawal symptoms are
not as bizarre as those brought about by
heroin or cocaine treatment, nicotine’s
influence creates an addiction that is just
as powerful!

7. Physical Addiction
• Smoking cessation is both a physical and psychological
battle. The nicotine in cigarettes brings about a physical
addiction. In the United States of America, the Surgeon
General declared nicotine an habit-forming drug in the
year 1989 but because it is legal and easily accessible,
people in the U.S. abuse it more than any other drug.
• Physical addiction occurs when your body has been so
influenced by your dependence on tobacco that you
need it to function as a normal human being. And
because your body is so used to it, it begins to tolerate it
and request for higher quantities to achieve the same
“high” or “buzz”. But, if you stop smoking or chewing
tobacco, cravings and physical withdrawal symptoms will
set in bringing about a whole range of problems.

8. Overcoming Physical Addiction
• Physical withdrawal from nicotine is short-lived, but it can
be disquieting while it lasts. It manifests in the form of
irritability, insomnia, crankiness, inability to concentrate,
nervousness, headache, et cetera. While some quitters
experience most of these symptoms, other quitters don’t,
so, it will be safe to say no two smoking cessation
experiences can be the same.
• Below, I discuss how to overcome physical addiction with
the 6D’s.
• delay smoking – once a craving hits you, just tell
yourself, “this too will pass” and delay smoking by about
5 minutes by which time the craving would have
disappeared.

9. Overcoming Physical
Addiction(2)
• distract yourself- while delaying smoking, don’t just sit
down doing nothing. Distract yourself by taking a walk,
calling a friend or looking through a magazine.
• deep breathe – take really deep breaths as you wait, it
will bring a surge of oxygen to your brain and make you
think clearer. It will relax you at the same time.
• drink water- water is essential during the quit process
and anytime a craving hits you, take a sip, as many sips
as you can.
• ditch stressful situations – as much as you can, avoid
stressful situations as they more than often lead to a
relapse.

10. Overcoming Physical
Addiction(3)
• do something else – do something else with your
hands when a strong urge to smoke hits you.
This is due to the fact that your mind has come
to associate your hands with holding cigarette
sticks, so, to overcome the urge, just hold a pen,
play with a stop watch, whatever, just do
something else with your hands.
• Read these for more help on overcoming
physical withdrawal symptoms:
• Natural Ways to Cope with Nicotine Withdrawal
Symptoms
• How to Stop Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms

11. Psychological Addiction
• Psychological or mental dependence goes far
beyond the physical. It is a state in which a
person’s mental health is affected if they are
denied access to a substance, in this case,
tobacco or cigarettes.
• When you smoke for a long period of time, the
cigarettes become a part of you- they become a
friend – you go everywhere with them, you
treasure them. When you stop smoking, the first
thing that hits you mentally is the loss of a friend.

12. Psychological Addiction(2)
• You feel incomplete without cigarettes
because they have grown to become a
part of you. Nervousness, mood swings
and fretfulness are just a few of the mental
effects of addiction. Other emotions you
will not but experience when you quit
smoking are denial, sadness, guilt,
acceptance, irritability, and many others.

13. Psychological Addiction(3)
• If you find yourself experiencing any one of
these emotions, accept that it is normal and that
many people go through these stages on the
path to permanent cessation and that you, too,
can successfully go through each stage and
come out victorious.
• Psychological addiction also occurs when you
smoke and associate certain facets of your life –
such as drinking, driving, partying or watching
television – with smoking.

14. Psychological Addiction(4)
• When you quit smoking cigarettes, you have to
determine how you will cope with the cravings
because you will definitely have them when you
set foot in a place or go through a circumstance
in which you once smoked. For example, after
you finish a meal, or when you are driving in
your car or sitting in front of the TV, there’s the
tendency to feel a strong desire to smoke. The
cravings are not necessarily rooted in the
physical. They are deeply rooted in the
psychological and you must find a way to beat
them to avoid a relapse.

15. Overcoming Psychological
Addiction
• Since you smoke throughout the day and night,
chances are, you’ll be confronted by many of
these associations that “trigger” your craving for
nicotine. You may have to change your daily
routine, perhaps kickoff a new way of life to keep
these triggers away.
• If you used to drive to work,perhaps,you may
have to start going by public transport to avoid
smoking.
• If you used to smoke while hanging out with “the
boys”, you may have to avoid such events for a
while to avoid a relapse.

16. Overcoming Psychological
Addiction
• I can hear you say, “why should I make all these lifestyle
changes just to stop smoking?” You definitely have to if
you don’t want to drop dead from having Lung Cancer or
even COPD.
• According to the CDC, over 440000 people die
prematurely from smoking in the United Sates. If that is
not enough motivation to quit, hear this from Intellihealth:
“Each cigarette contains about 10 milligrams of nicotine,
of which one to two milligrams are absorbed directly into
the bloodstream. If absorbed all at once, a couple of
grams of pure nicotine could kill a healthy person. Since
your body breaks down nicotine at a rapid pace, and a
cigarette is smoked over time, the levels in your system
never get this high.”

17. The Psychology of Cigarette
Addiction
• A sobering fact, you may say.
• You can read more about
the psychology of cigarette addiction in
this speech by Robert West at the 2009
UK Smoking Cessation Conference. West
is a Professor of Health Psychology and
Director of Tobacco Studies at the Cancer
Research UK Health Behaviour Research
Centre of University College, London.

18. Don’t panic because of your physical and
psychological addiction!
• Physical and psychological withdrawal are
temporary phases in your recovery from
nicotine addiction. They are but for a
fleeting moment. Remember there are
better days ahead. Days when you will
wake up with a grand feeling of freedom
and control. Beating your addiction is
worth every effort you are putting in now.
Just hang on, you will surely overcome!

19. Conclusion
• This book by Allen Carr has helped many
people overcome physical and
psychological addiction. It can help you
too!
• Click here to get more info about the book.

20. Thanks for Reading!!!
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• http://2stopsmokingtips.com