Vaping was promoted by the tobacco industry as the path to stopping smoking. They touted the benefits of not having the 7,000 chemicals found in cigarettes for the seemingly benign chemicals like Vitamin E acetate. People think,” Vitamin E, that can’t be bad! It has vitamins! More on that and what is in vapes in part 2.
What they didn’t tell you is that e-cigarettes contain as much if not more of what keeps you coming back for more - nicotine. Nicotine is the same highly addictive substance found in cigarettes without the tobacco chemicals. But it is just as addictive. And the most successful brands deliver more nicotine in one hit than what you get in one drag from a cigarette.
Let me explain the problem in another way. How can you recover from nicotine addiction if you are still getting the nicotine you crave in another form? Let’s face it. You may be able to reduce your intake for a little while, but over time, you will find a way to get back to what your body is used to – your level of tolerance. You see, no addict wants less. As addicts we want all the nicotine we can get to maintain our level of tolerance. When you trade your dependence on nicotine in cigarettes to the nicotine in vapes, you haven’t really stopped smoking. You have merely transferred your addiction so you can keep on satisfying your need for nicotine above your health and well-being.
Now here is the hard part: When you are defending your right to keep on vaping, you are in denial. You are defending your right to destroy your health, your negative choices, and falling deeper into hopelessness. In fact, you are merely a garden variety nicotine addict in a state of denial with an excuse for keeping on using. But you are only fooling yourself.
“I like it! I can stop at any time. I just don’t want to.” Really? You like having to answer the call for more nicotine above all else, morning, noon and night, day in and day out, for months and years? I’ll bet you like the dopamine rush you get from the first hit that allays your anxiety of going without. “It relaxes me. It helps me cope!” Yes! Nicotine yanks your chain, the chain around your neck, and like a trained dog you listen. You see, vaping and smoking are all about getting the dopamine rush in your brain that sets off the temporary euphoria that you have grown to believe you can’t live without. I get it. I was hooked too! (2 and ½ a pack a day smoker).
I know these words are harsh. I know they sound like I’m scolding, and I know that recovery is for people who want it, not for people who need it. But my purpose is to help you confront the reality of your addiction, not enable you to maintain your delusions about what nicotine is and what it does to your body, mind, and soul. If I can chip away just a chunk of defense you may have about your vaping, then I have done my job today.
If not by my help, choose something that helps you address the problem that you have with nicotine. The sooner you address that you are powerless over it, the closer you are to being able to take positive action. If you have reluctantly concluded that you can’t succeed on your own, join the club! Feel free to book a half-hour consultation with me so I can show you the path you fear is doable, and it will not be the miserable experience you fear it will be. Not one client of mine has died from having urges to smoke. Let me help you discover how recover is the solution, not the problem. Or call me at 512-758-1910.
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