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A habit about smoking essay
A habit about smoking essay
A habit about smoking essay
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Introduction
Every person possesses some type of habit, whether we realize it or not. A habit is a repetitive way of thinking, doing, or acting that is acquired from a previous experience. Most habits are done unconsciously and can be anything from shopping, drinking, and licking your lips, to telling lies, crying, and brushing your teeth. Though habits seem to be embedded in us, it is possible for us to do away with them. This paper will dissect my habit of smoking tobacco. I will discuss how I developed this habit and why I continue to pursue it. Also presented, will be different theories as to why I have this habit and what I can do to change it.
Behavioral and Social/Cognitive Approaches to Forming Habits One of the habits that I have developed is smoking cigarettes. My curiosity began when I was fifteen years old. I snuck into the bathroom with one of my dad’s Marlboros and his lighter and attempted to smoke the cigarette. I was unable to do it, so I got rid of the evidence by flushing it down the toilet. I later on started smoking Black & Milds, cigars, in high school. After joining the military, at the age of seventeen, I switched from cigars to cigarettes. I was then smoking Camel Menthols and dipping Snus pouches. A few role models that influenced this behavior were my dad, my dad’s girlfriends, and my grandfather. I would
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The factors are environment, people, and behavior. Referring to this theory, my habit of smoking was persuaded upon me by my peers. I was given opportunities and support to engage in smoking. I was, and still am, being accepted and had no negative reinforcements. Also, as a child and young adult, observational learning played a tremendous role in my personal acceptance of the habit. I was able to see where, how, and by whom it was done, and later start using tobacco as a coping
Breathing in and out is an innate behavior that we are born with; also, it is a behavior that people take for granted. Let’s say, people who smoke think a cough, or a cough with phlegm is a sign that they are about to get a cold, but then again it can be a sign of a potential health problem like emphysema, asthma, or tuberculosis. People smoke for different reasons; nevertheless, it is an addiction that they can recover from. It may take them several tries to quit smoking, but they can quit. People don’t think about the harm that they are putting on their lungs and alveoli when they put a cigarette to their mouth. For example, many long time smokers are diagnose with emphysema every minute. Emphysema is an example of a chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) that has causes numerous deaths and disabilities in the United States of America. Also, smoking is the number one causes of death in developed countries.
Habits are choices that one continues to do repeatedly without actually thinking about them. Habits start with a decision, but they eventually become automatic. One can probably think about things we do every day that we wish we did less of, perhaps like binging Netflix, constantly checking social media, or snacking when not being hungry. If one can understand how habits are triggered, one can learn how to overcome them. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and “Rat Park” by Lauren Slater will reveal the main strategies to recognize and overcome habits. Angie Bachman, a women who developed a gambling habit due was well aware of her habits, but she continued to drag herself into debt, resulting in losing all that she owned and getting sued by
Every year in the United States, more than 480,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke; consequently, making this the leading cause of preventable death in this country. People are usually introduced to smoking at a young age; mostly around the preteen years. During this critical time preteen are transitioning from middle school to high school; teens at this age find it a little harder fitting in with others all while forming their own sense of identity. Preteens only pick up the habit of smoking to cope with these challenges. What these teens do not know is that smoking at an early age only increases their chances of suffering from a lifelong addiction. To help assuage the situation the Nicotinell anti-smoking organization
Throughout the book, the conflict between the mothers, their Chinese tradition, and language and the daughters, their American tradition, and language are evident. Suyuan and Jing-Mei Woo are mother and daughter, respectively, who are characters that illustrate the conflict between the two cultures.
Before beginning my analysis of my smoking habits, I recorded the number of cigarettes smoked on a daily basis. On an average day I smoked 4-5 cigarettes. By establishing my baseline performance on a typical week, I set out to find the positive reinforcements, which coerced me into smoking. The days that were most prolific in smoking were Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The primary reason for the increase in smoking was due to the social events of that particular evening, which included the occasional alcohol consumption, and companionship of fellow smokers/friends. “Partying” dramatically affected my smoking habit. Undoubtedly my gregarious antics affected my smoking, but the post-sex cigarette also added to the count. By pinpointing these factors, I was able to invent a fixed negative reinforcement schedule to lead me away from smoking and steer me towards a healthier lifestyle.
Every year cigarette smoking is responsible for 500,000 premature deaths (Nugel), you do not want to be just another statistic, do you? America’s first cash crop was tobacco. That means that tobacco has been around for a really long time. It was not until 1865, though, that cigarettes were sold commercially. They were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War (Dowshen). From then, cigarettes spread like wildfire, and it was not until 1964 that anyone made a stand about the negative effects of tobacco and cigarettes. People start smoking for all different reasons, some to fit in and some to “escape”. Regardless, it is a horrible habit. 3900 children will try their first cigarette today. Amongst adults who currently smoke, 68% of them began at age 18 or younger, and 85% at 21 or younger (American Lung Association). And of all those people, 70% say if they were given another chance they would never have picked up that first cigarette (Tobacco Free Maine). Smoking is responsible for 1 and 5 deaths in the united states, and is the number one preventable cause of death (NLH). Smoking burns and there is no doubt about that, but before one picks up that cigarette, understand the negative effects on not only oneself, but others affected by ones poor choices, like second-hand smoke. Because of smoking cigarettes, many types of cancer, decrease of life quality, and negative health effects have become all too common in the world today.
and I vowed to myself that smoking would never become a part of my life. Not only was I wrong, I had no idea what was in store for me. As the years went by, my sister's smoking habit no longer came as a shock to me, but the addiction is still crude. As I turned 15, I started to notice that one of my good friends had
A. Children model their parents' behavior as well as authority figures and relative when it comes to tobacco use (Journal of Public Health Mgmt and Practice). They will also listen to what authority figures say about smoking. During child development there are lessons that he child must learn or do ...
Guess what? Even children who live in a smoking environment are influenced to become a smoker as they grow up; smoking has a huge impact on our younger generation as they are negatively influenced by this habit and we as adults are responsible for it. Many people don’t know this is a serious issue but they regard it as normality.
“The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones” (Somerset Maugham). Almost everyone has good and bad habits but the bad ones can lead to addictions. When it comes to tobacco addiction, it is a habit that leads to different diseases and causes death. Tobacco should be illegal.
All tobacco products have a warning label on the package, and yet people continue to use it. I’ve heard of different reasons from different people. None of them make sense to me. The only borderline logical reason to me is growing up with that in your household. You don’t stand a chance after you get use to the chemicals. The smoke reels you in like a fish on a hook and you become a slave to the smell. Even if that is the case, I still believe you have a choice. A majority people start due to people in their family, but I’ve heard of less intelligent reasons. Two people told me they started just because the turned eighteen and they realized they were of legal age. I’ve been informed of someone finding cigarettes and deciding to try them. Another person told me they started because they wanted to prove they could smoke cigarettes and do “cool” smoke tricks. I’ve also heard a few people say they started due to peer pressure. A lot of people tend to use stress as an excuse, but a tobacco won’t solve your problems. An interesting reason I’ve recently discovered is social awkwardness. One person told me they would use smoking as an excuse to evade uncomfortable situations. Whatever the reason may be, an abundance of people have a difficult time quitting. One person close to me has described smoking as “muscle memory” and you also associate smoking with
Scientists and health officials have been arguing the detrimental effects smoking has on our health for many years. Smoking can lead to serious complications including asthma, pancreas, lung and stomach cancer due to the large number of carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals) and other various substances added to it. It is a health hazard for both smokers and non-smokers and it is especially harmful to unborn babies. Although smokers claim that it helps them to relax and release stress, the negative aspects of the habit take over the positive. As it has been stressed by the scientists and experts, there are some very severe reasons of smoking but its crucial consequences should also be taken into consideration.
Smoking is one of the dangerous habits that people perform in their lives. This habit affects the health and causes several diseases, such as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary disease (Institute of Medicine, 2012). In the family I visited, the father is a smoker. He strongly approves with the idea of smoking while the mother strongly disapproves the idea of smoking. Both of them know that smoking is harmful to the smoker, but the father does not know that smoking is harmful for other people who are called: second hand smokers. In addition, the father was at the age of 15 when he started smoking cigarettes. There is more than one reason that pushed the father to start smoking when he was a teenager. One of these reasons is copying the behavior of his father. He believes it would be difficult for him to give up smoking. I agree that quit of smoking is difficult since cigarettes contain nicotine, which is more addictive than heroin and also smoking becomes part of his daily routine (Giovanni, 2012).
In the article “Breaking bad habits: classical conditioning and smoking”, it claims that psychological conditioning can be used to break bad habits (Reichelt, 2013). For smokers, seeing a cigarette packet or bud can induce the feeling of wanting to smoke. This though is not restricted to smokers or drug addicts, we all form associations with all types of environmental stimuli and things we desire. Just like in the article “Addicted to Your Smartphone? Here 's what to Do”, it shows how just looking at your phone can create an urge to check your email or messages (Davis, 2015). These multifaceted associations maintain behaviors and can cause reinstatement when certain signals are faced, and this is why smokers find it hard to quit and why people addicted to cellphones find it hard to quit checking their phones all the
Smoking is a bad habit that is not only harmful to myself, but also to the people around me, namely my wife and children. They are the ones that receive the most harmful and the most concentrated amounts of smoke. I inhale through a filter, my wife and children do not.