What causes an ex-smoker - who has succeeded in quitting for many months or years - relapse to smoking again?
by 
Suby the Coat
ANSWERS: 33
-
It can be many things... stress, new job, family problems, finished pregnancy. A smoker will always be a smoker. And I'm a smoker!
-
Usually stress,..or even boredom.
-
Women. That'll do it.
-
I know someone who stopped smoking for 18 years and then he had a stressful day at work,a work mate offered him a cigarette and that was it he started smoking again:)
-
I have very strong will power, I do miss smoking, I quit 25+ years ago but If I'm in the right mood and I see somebody with a pack of Kools I miht just smoke a couple and that usually leads to me buying a pack for that evening, especially if I am drinking and having a good tim. I never finish it. In all these years I have done this less than 15 times
-
quiet peer pressure for myself, after I quit, everyone will not smoke around me for like a month then rhey will think oh she has been with out a smoke for a whole mnth she is over it we can all smoke in front of her now, then after a day or two of the in my face smoking, I start again.
-
Excellent question, Suby. I've never smoked so I've always wondered why on earth people start up to begin with. But it's even curiouser when they have successful beaten the addiction and then go back to it. I've read they say the stress forced them back to it but that sure doesn't make sense to me. I would think meditation would be a better way to relieve stress(which costs nothing). Smoking is expensive both financially and health-wise. It is not sensible, rational or logical. Good question. Hope someone can give you rational, sensible and logical answer! :)
-
Probably the same thing that brought me back to Answerbag. Familiarity. "Just one day won't hurt..." and then the habit forms again!
-
The inability to say no through a lack of willpower; or making a poor choice. After quitting over 4 years ago myself, the temptation still remains, but still have not taken that first puff since. To those that have, you pick up the pieces and do it over again, you CAN DO IT!
-
He did not take up anything that would fill that void. I look at my children and I know they need me. I look at my wife and she needs me.
-
I don't know. My next door neighbor told me to tell my husband that he "fell off the wagon (meaning relapsing to smoking again)". We didn't feel we had a "right" to ask why, but we think it's his wife on his case ! LOL
-
Stress is probably the biggest reason. They remember the comfort they received from smoking and start once again. I personally quit smoking in 1957 and have not smoked since even in the stressful times and believe me I have had my share. I cannot even stand to be around where someone is smoking...to be honest it STINKS!
-
The need for a cruch of support and stress relief. Too bad.Made it and then lost it.
-
For me it was a combination of my husband re-lapsing, and missing the "pause button" on life. With a cigarette I can go outside and smoke. No kids. No housework. No anything. Not that I don't love my kids, it's just that I need the break every now and then. I know that's a lousy reason, that I could go outside and NOT smoke, I just enjoy it so much that I succumbed to temptation.
-
His friends (peer pressure) or his own thinking!
-
i know this feeling.as a former smoker i deal with this daily.the last time i stopped i said that ididn't quit,i just haven't smoked my last cigarette yet.i keep it in a tube with a strike anywhere match.the mind set was different for me.this worked for me but hey i'm crazy so...
-
really bad, heartbreaking news!
-
Addiction. My husband has struggled with nicotine addiction for ages. Sometimes he goes a decade or more before he relapses, but he eventually relapses again and has to start all over again. It's the nature of addiction. My understanding is that nicotine addiction is as strong as heroine addiction. +5
-
They are under the foolish notion the can control it after doing it excessively for years. I know because I've done this. It starts off pretty good maybe a smoke every other day then it just all falls down. Nicotine is way more addictive then you think, or if you have never dealt with nicotine addiction kinda hard to understand, its not like caffiene.
-
I'm an ex smoker. I quit 7 years ago, went back after 2 years, Wife had a kid a year ago and quit again. It's just too easy to go back, and non smokers just don't understand how addictive it is. I know people who haven't smoked for up to 15 years and could easily have a cigarette right now. Every time, EVERY time I smell a ciggy, I want one.
-
My mom has smoked since she was 14 years old. About 4 years ago she was hospitalized for 3 days because of dehydration, and for the next week home she wasnt able to smoke. And she just never did. Then after 2 years of not smoking, she started again because she was 'bored'
-
Nicotine fits
-
drinking, feeling good or just being around other smokers
-
It's when you have a reason to smoke, i.e. a stressful time. This can be addictive habit, mentally. Just dig your feet into the ground, and say "NO!".
-
ITS ALL ABOUT POWER, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT U R IN CHARGE!
-
I don't know, unless I'm totally out of my mind. I have loads of reasons NOT to smoke, but sometimes it does catch me unawares. That granted, even if you are going through a hard problem or stress, don't use that as an excuse. Keep with it. These things pass. I'm an "ex" smoker, having given up March 08. I don't see myself as infallible.
-
Smoking has, by most estimates, the highest relapse rate of any substance addiction. Going back is convenient, you need only pick up a pack at the store or bum one from a friend. Once a smoker, you will always be one; even if you are abstaining. Some who have quit report still smoking in dreams 30 years later.
-
Because their too cool for school to drool and become the fool and drool likes its cool?
-
I've tried just about every method there is out there and there is only one I can recommend - NLP! It eliminates the cravings. Gum patches and all the other just did not cut it for me, not to mention cold turkey which was the hardest, I even tried the electric cig and it is just no match to the real thing. Check out this article: Http://Quit-Smoking-Today.BestOf-The-Net.com it’s the one that got me off the cigs and smoke free for GOOD even without gaining weight! :) Good luck kicking the habit! Adam.
-
I imagine they enjoy smoking.
-
If a person spends their whole life avoiding something they enjoy, they are still controlled by it. It's not surprising people begin smoking again. Society demands that to remove the label of "smoker" from your soul, you must quit forever, which is silly. Try managing the enjoyment responsibly, first by breaking the chemical addiction (which doesn't take very long), and then by only smoking on infrequent occasions and for good reasons. For most people, this is a lot more realistic than quitting absolutely, and really isn't any less healthy. When you look at quitting smoking as an all or nothing struggle that will continue for the rest of your life, you are setting yourself up for failure. If a person, even after many years, gives in just once, they may relapse just because they think they've failed and resign themselves to that status of "smoker" which people are so quick to label each other with.
-
One cigarette will lead to a pack a day.
-
Its usually the smell.
Linda Joy RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC