Do you smoke?

[Aree Wongwanlee]

 I was a smoker. Not very heavy but still I must have a cigarette after a meal. It makes the meal seem so much more satisfying. However, for the last few months, I have not smoked at all. It's not that I am concerned about my health. It's more a matter of inconvenience. I live in a small apartment, so smoking would make the place stink. To smoke, I have to go outside. That's fourteen floors down. It's just a bit too far to go just for a smoke. In the end, I just gave up. Now, what have I noticed about myself since I stopped smoking? Nothing much really, except that my room is cleaner. Just plain dust. No more cigarette ash or cigarette butts. Do I feel more healthy? Not really. Do I feel less or more anxiety? Not really. I feel about the same as before.

 

[mauricioq]

Smoking makes me relaxed but the problem comes afterwards, when I start to feel the need to smoke again, that makes me anxious. But right now I have a schedule and I'm going by it, I only smoke at night, right before going to bed. It's more healthy and better to me.

 

[cluckeyo]

I am not a smoker but I live with a smoker. He has been working to try and quit. He began by cutting down to 3/4 a cig at a time and increased the time between cigs. Then reduced to halves, then 1/4. He is now down to just 2 puffs at a time but can't seem to  let go of that last bit. He's doing really quite well though and smoking far less than he was. He says he will eventually quit but not today. He was coughing so badly to begin with but he is not doing that anymore so I feel like he has made a great improvement in the situation.

 

[Azelma]

I've been a smoker for a long time, but I think I'm gonna start quitting soon. My therapist actually adviced against quitting smoking right now, lest it increase my anxiety. But I've just noticed I don't get much pleasure from it and most of the time I just feel like "why am I even doing this?".

 

[Choochoo]

I smoke but I'm starting to try and cut down. It's super tough but it just costs way too much now and not to mention I'm starting to feel like I've been doing it for too long at this point. Thankfully I don't feel anything extreme yet which is why I'm opting to try and stop now before it's too late. Hopefully When I come into some more extra money I could just switch to vaping instead so I can have an easier time as I've heard from many friends who have tried it claim that it's a great substitute to the point of not even longing for cigarettes anymore. 

 

[rikka]

I don't like smoking. At first, it was for health reasons, but growing up, aesthetics rather than health reasons were what prevented me from starting. I hate having my clothes smell. I don't like my bad breath. I don't like yellow stains on my teeth and I don't like my hair to smell of cigarette smoke. I can be very vain about it, but I can say I am proud of being vain. I don't like to look and smell awful.


I don't know about vapes, but I still won't take up smoking. For me, looking cool is wearing a tank top, skinny jeans, Converse sneakers, and snapback, rather than wearing those while smoking.

 

[NiMil]

I do smoke. I've been smoking since I was 12 years old. I'm 26 now. So that's a long time.


I can give up anything - dairy products, meat, coffee, sugar - but never cigarettes. I roll my own tobacco (organic) and use unchlorinated and unbleached papers. My "theory" is that the papers combined with the tobacco have less chemicals (preservatives, coloring, etc) in them, so it's not as unhealthy.


Even though I'm not happy with myself smoking, I feel as though many times when I'm out among people (and I don't go out much) having a cigarette sort of gives me something to do with my hands and with myself. I have an excuse to go out. I have an excuse to sit there all "quiet and mysterious" smoking a cigarette.


Honestly, if I were to quit, I wouldn't know what to do with myself in many situations. I'd just sit there, pretty much just existing...

 

[Jasmin Cottontail]

I don't smoke. Well to be honest I do smoke occasionally, probably once in a while whenever I feel stressed. I never became addicted to cigarette smoking in light of the fact that I hate the smell of it, it makes me dizzy to be honest.

 

[fuzyon]

You're replacing a bad problem with a bad habit which will not benefit you a lot in the long run. What are you going to do, smoke all of your life when you feel sad or depressed? It's just a temporary solution to a permanent issue. A lot of people have told me that smoking helps them calm down, but that's just a cop out. Imagine if they instead worked hard on fixing their problem.

 

[Allenafaith]

I don't smoke and I don't plan on smoking ever. I know my lungs are just as bad as my parents, though. Both of my parents smoked until they both had heart attacks. My dad started smoking again and my mom switched to vaping. They're divorcing so I'm only around my dad now but being around his smoke is still bothering me. I don't want to have heart attacks like them. 

 

[explorerX7]

I have never smoked any type of substance in my lifetime. I was able to resist peer pressure which had tried to get me to adopt the habit. My problem with smoking is that I can't cope with someone smoking near to me because the smoke from the cigarettes makes me uncomfortable.

 

[beautifullybree]

I smoked for 6 years and quit 2years ago. I honestly felt more anxious after quitting. I truly didn't want to believe it, but there was no way to deny the differences I was feeling. I didn't know what to do with myself and when I was stressed I could run to it. I've stuck with it and I hope to change my mind eventually. 

 

[hades_leae]

I smoked for 6 years and quit 2years ago. I honestly felt more anxious after quitting. I truly didn't want to believe it, but there was no way to deny the differences I was feeling. I didn't know what to do with myself and when I was stressed I could run to it. I've stuck with it and I hope to change my mind eventually. 

When you say change you mind, are you saying you're going to start smoking again? I can see how you get anxious after quitting, I'm sure most people do. I tried smoking when I was 17 years old, I just wanted to try it, but knew it wasn't going to be something I stuck to because I just don't see it as something I need or want to do.

 

[djanx]

I don't smoke. But, to answer your other comment, smoking does reduce anxiety or stress, much like sugar, coffee or tea does. But, smoking is much more addictive and so if you can't get a hold of a cig you'd become anxious, which defeats the whole purpose of smoking if the reason you want to do it is just to reduce anxiety.

 

[oportosanto]

It might reduce or not, to be honest I can't say. I used to smoke a lot, especially when I was a student and after quitting I could not study properly without thinking about smoking, so that says a lot of how addictive this is.

 

[Alexandoy]

Smoking never failed to calm my nerves.  Cigarette was my relaxant and I become restless when I didn't smoke for van hour. However,  I quit smoking in 2007 and never looked back especially now  that smoking is banned in almost all public places.

 

[janemariesayed]

As I have been a smoker since the age of 12 I think it would be very hard for me to give up. From time to time I have gone without smoking, like when I have been pregnant for example. The problem for me is that I enjoy it. It relaxes me and although I know that my body would appreciate going without a cigarette, my mind doesn't agree. My Dad used to give me snuff when I was a toddler so I grew up with a nicotine addiction.