Different Smokers Different Addiction Say Researchers

More evidence that smoking is definitely linked to psychological influences has been confirmed by a study done by scientists at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in America. They said people who had different psychological disorders had different levels of and different types of attachment to their cigarettes.


For example smokers who suffered from anxiety tended to have a strong emotional link with their cigarettes but those psychiatric patients with substance abuse problems were more likely to have smoking cravings triggered off by environmental or social stimuli. The research which can be seen in full in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology dealt with a whole range of different psychiatric problems and highlighted that people with psychiatric illnesses are more likely to smoke and more likely to have problems quitting.

The lead author of the study, Professor Megan Piper explained that this information should be used by doctors to identify specific treatments for smokers with psychological problems. The other thing which this research makes clear is that people have a whole range of different types of smoking addiction and that their cravings are triggered off by a whole range of different factors. Not everybody has an emotional bond to cigarettes and some people report that the physical cravings are worse than the psychological cravings and vice versa.

At Ukmedix News we have always argued that people should deal with their smoking addiction in their own way and that they should try and identify situations and places where they find their smoking addiction the worst. Some people suffer from anxiety attacks when they quit smoking and maybe they should therefore deal with the anxiety problem as a way to become smoke free.

You should never underestimate the powerful psychological influences which come into play when you start to quit smoking and you should not think of the smoking addiction as purely as a physical problem.