NIU

Electronic cigarettes and quitting smoking

Posted by Stacy on Saturday, April 18, 2009 9:25 PM

We just talked about electronic cigarettes in my health psychology class. Basically they are like regular cigarettes instead they are battery powered and they allow the smoker to get nicotine but they also have a lot of benefits.

When someone is smoking an electronic cigarette, they can do it in a public place where regular cigarettes have been banned. There is no excess or second hand smoke given off so it is safe for those around. And your clothes and car and home won't smell like it either.

We also talked about how this may be a good way for someone to stop smoking or at least try to wean themselves off and cut back from their regular habit. It is a way for them to get the feeling of smoking but can also lower the dosage. We read a study about people who tried to quit smoking and the best ways to do it overall and we found that the kinds that mimicked smoking the most helped. Chewing gum was pretty effective because it lowers the nicotine dosage but it also requires something to be in your mouth which keeps it busy. Also people who would eat carrots or similar shaped food when they got the urge helped. This is why electronic cigarettes would work well because something is still in their mouth and keeping them occupied, but the dose may be lower as well as the other side effects like excess smoke coming off, butts and the smell that gets everywhere (clothes, car, furniture, hair).

While other ways of quitting aren't so great, like the patch. But we found that a lot of quitting had to do with mental preparation and their motivation to do so. Some people would be quitting for their kids or their job maybe or because their health was declining, but didn't really want to do it for themselves. So when they were faced with withdrawal and challenges, they really weren't up for it because they didn't have it in them to want to quit.

So you definitely need to want it and do it for the right reasons (well they are all right reasons, but at least come from within yourself) and then you can find the most effective method to help yourself get through. Using ways like electronic cigarettes is a great start too.