The Myth of Will Power When Quitting Smoking

"I have no will power. After a few days (hours, weeks, whatever) without a cigarette, I cave in and I feel like such a loser."

Sound like you? Please, PLEASE don't beat yourself up! It's not your fault.

We hypnotists spend a lot of time talking about your conscious and your subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is not able to process very much at any time. According to research on information processing, your conscious mind is only able to process approximately 50 bits of information per second. Your subconscious mind, on the other hand, processes approximately 11 million bits per second.¹ You use your conscious mind for important things: You make decisions in your conscious mind. You choose a different driving route when you see traffic on the road in front of you or you weigh the pros and cons of making a job change in your conscious mind - the part of your mind that is rational, analytical and objective.

Your will power is in this part of your mind. Will power is a wonderful thing given to us by Mother Nature. If you are starving, weak and tired, instead of just falling over and caving in, you marshal your forces, so to speak, get up and find food. Or if you are at a party, but you are tired, you can also marshal your forces and get a second wind so that you can party for a few more hours. You made a conscious decision. The problem with will power is that it doesn't last very long. If you don't find food, you are going to fall over and die; or, after a few hours of partying, you are going to have to go home and sleep, no matter how strong your will power is.

Your subconscious is immense. You have stored everything you've ever learned in your subconscious: the multiplication tables; how to drive a car; the lyrics to your favorite songs; how to put on your pants or tie your shoes; throw a ball. These are all "programs" that you stored in your subconscious. Your subconscious mind processes information about 220 times better and more effectively than your conscious mind - you can now turn the key of your car, turn on the turn indicator and turn to your left to check for drivers behind you, all at the same time -- without having to think about it. The process is automatic. You have stored all of your habits - your programs - in your subconscious, the good ones and the bad ones. And smoking is one nasty habit.

How many cigarettes do you smoke a day? Ten? Twenty? Forty? And how long have you been smoking? Ten? Twenty? Forty years? You stored your smoking habit in your subconscious a long time ago and you have practiced being a smoker over and over again so that this program is deep in your subconscious.

Your conscious mind knows perfectly well that smoking is a really stupid thing to do. And your subconscious just goes blythely along doing what you programmed it to do all those years ago: I drink coffee, I automatically reach for a cigarette. My boss pissed me off, I automatically reach for a cigarette.
I'm in the car and I don't have anything else to do, I reach for my cigarettes. Habit. A deeply-rooted habit.

If you are having a hard time quitting smoking by using your will power, give yourself some slack. There is nothing wrong with your will power and you are not a loser. You are looking in the wrong place for help.

1. Zimmerman, M. (1989). In R. F. Schmidt & G. Thews (eds.), Human Physiology, pp. 166-173. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.
2. Lovitch, Michael, The Will Power Myth. www.TotalHealthBreakthroughs.com, Jan. 6, 2009.

Next post: "I Can Quit Any Time I Want"

Do You Think You Are Addicted to Nicotine? Part 1

All right, it's a trick question. What is your definition of addition?
Here’s one:
Addiction is a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance. The term has been partially replaced by the word dependence for substance abuse. Addiction has been extended, however, to include mood-altering behaviors or activities.
Some researchers speak of two types of addictions: substance addictions (for example, alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking); and process addictions (for example, gambling, spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity). There is a growing recognition that many addicts, such as polydrug abusers, are addicted to more than one substance or process.
(From the Medical Dictionary: The Free Dictionary)

Is smoking a substance or a behavior?
Answer: Nicotine is a substance. Smoking is a behavior.

Nicotine is an addictive substance and I am not going to try to convince you otherwise.
So is heroin. So is caffeine. I know what you’ve read and heard, “Oh, nicotine is one of the most addictive substances in the world. More than heroin!” But really, is it?
Ask yourself: If you had to go to the depths of the Bronx at two o’clock in the morning, walk up stairs reeking of urine, to a rat-infested lair to score your cigarettes, would you still do it? I ask my clients that question and very few say yes.
For most of you reading this blog, you must admit, if you had to score your cigarettes that way, you would have quit a long time ago.
When I hear that “more addictive than heroin” quotation from a physician, I press him/her on the issue. What do you mean? After a few minutes of quoting the headlines of medical journals and popular media, the doctor says that it’s hard to quit smoking because cigarettes are legal, cheap and everywhere.
Tobacco is, most certainly, one of the most widely-used addictive substances in the world.
So, how addictive is it?
Lots of people, including me, are addicted to caffeine. When I get up in the morning, I look forward to my one daily cup of coffee. It smells so good and it helps me wake up. If I don’t have my caffeine fix, I get a headache and I am an absolute bitch until I do get it. I admit it; I have a caffeine addiction. When I quit drinking coffee, which I have done several times for various reasons, I progressively cut down for 5-6 days and then I’m off caffeine. No more headache; no other withdrawal symptoms -- Just a feeling of nostalgia whenever I walk past Starbuck’s. (I’m originally from Seattle, people!)
Is nicotine addictive? Sure. But I think that for most people, it is more like a caffeine addiction than a heroine addiction. I can't imagine the reaction of the doctor if I'd asked to be admitted to an addiction program when she recommended I stop drinking coffee. (and don't worry about me now, I'm drinking coffee with my doctor's approval) I’ve had too many clients who came in absolutely convinced that they had a terrible addiction, and they walked out of my office smoke free, with no withdrawal symptoms.
How can that be if smoking is so addictive?