slg@ukma.UUCP (Sean Gilley) (10/25/85)
Survey for Smokers/Former Smokers -- Results
General Comments
----------------
This was not intended as a scientific survey, however I am presenting
the results as if it were (more or less...). I received 46 replies to my
posting. Two of those commented that the survey was biased because of
question number five. One of these did not answer any question of the
survey.
Question number five read:
If you still smoke: Why do you continue smoking with all of
the overwhelming evidence that this is a life threatening
habit?
This question was why I posted the survey. I wanted the answer to
why people continue to smoke. Looking back now, I see that some of the
questions could have been worded a bit differently, have been more consise
or less ambiguous. This question, however, I have very few problems with.
It asked the exact question I wanted answered. A friend suggested that I
should have worded the question in a manner similar to the following:
In light of the fact that much of the medical world in this
country considers smoking a life threatening habit, why do
you continue smoking?
I see a difference, but not much. One of the comments I received on
that question and my reply follows:
---
>This is a loaded questionaire. You aren't helping. If you want people
>to quit, be supportive -- not condemnatory. I didn't quit because of
>folks reminding me of how dangerous/anti-social/unpleasant it was. I
>quit because of the *sincere* concern of close friends...
>
(me [ihnp4!cbosgd!ukma!slg])
My questionaire was not meant to help, hinder or deter anyone
from smoking. As I said in my introductory notes to it, it
was done simply out of curiosity. The important question, to
me, was the last. I couldn't (can't) understand why anyone
would smoke with the overwhelming evidence that smoking kills
you.
I don't currently have any close friends that smoke. If I did,
I would not have hesitated to give them the survey also. I
may not like smoking in and around my person, but I think that
it is a person's right to do so if they wish. I *do not* condem
those who smoke, nor do I remind them of the unpleasant aspects
of smoking. They know.
---
Throughout these results I will insert quotes from those who replied.
I have intentionally left names and e-mail addressed out of it. I don't
see it matters.
Results
-------
1) When did you begin smoking?
This is a question I would re-word if I did this again.
What I meant was "At what age..." I got replies that listed
just the year involved, those that listed the age, and those
that listed both. Those that listed both were the most
informative. Thirty-two people out of the fourty-six that
responded gave an age, or gave an answer that could be
approximated to an age. (For example, 1st year of college
was taken to mean age 18.) The percentages listed are of
the thirty-two that replied to the question in the way
intended.
Youngest: 9
Oldest: 18
Average Age: 15
Median Age: 13
Started as a teenager: 81%
Started before teenager: 19%
---
2) Why did you begin?
All respondants answered this question.
63% Started because of peer pressure.
Others had other, usually more interesting answers.
"[I] deliverately started with the intention of getting as hooked
as possible and then quitting."
"Because I thought I might like it (and I did)."
"To stop eating."
"Everyone did it."
"Both parents smoked."
"I was a dumb teenager." (Three people gave this reason, or
similar reasons for starting.)
"It made me feel good."
---
4) Have you tried to quit?
The majority of respondants to this survey were
former smokers, who had (of course) successfully
tried to quit.
99% Had tried to quit.
01% Had not tried to quit.
57% Had tried to quit and had been successful.
42% Had tried to quit and had not been successful.
---
5) If you still smoke: Why do you continue smoking with all
of the overwhelming evidence that this is a life threatening
habit?
Just by the general nature of this question, it's not
really possible to catagorize the answers. Actually
reading the answers is the only good way to get any
insight into them. However, there were a few answers
that were general to more than one person.
Three people continue because of stress in one form
or another.
Three people continue because they are ``hooked''.
Five people continue because ``I enjoy it''.
Three people took the attitude that ``you have to die
from something sometime''.
Some quotes follow:
"Too stupid to thnk about the consequenses and wake up
before it's too late."
"I enjoy it. Lots of things are bad for you."
"My smoking usually increases in proportion with my distressing
emotions (such as loneliness, depression, fear, anxiety,
(not anger), jealousy, frustration, low self-esteem, etc)."
I think the following quote, taken directly from the reply it came
in, summorizes the feelings of many smokers. It is long, but I felt it
belonged here. It is this persons answer to question five.
----
This is a tough question. Any "reasons" that any smoker may give will
appear to be just "excuses" to a non-smoker. It depends on ones point of
view. Non-smokers look at all of the evidence pointing to lung cancer, heart
disease and the like, and can not see why in the world anybody would keep on
smoking. To a non-smoker, smoking appears to be a silly and stupid thing to
do, to keep on smoking is just a slow form of suicide, just as the surgeon
general says on every pack of cigarettes. To a non-smoker, smoking is a dirty
disgusting, smelly, messy, and dangerous thing to do. They feel that people
who smoke should just quit smoking, not only for their own health but also for
those around the smoker.
For the most part, the non-smoker is right. Smoking is unhealthy. It is
disgusting. It is stupid. I know that. Smoking is an unhealthy, disgusting,
stupid habit. Habit is the key word here. Most of the cigarettes that I
light up are done because of the habit. I will light up a cigarette when I
watch TV, when I sit down to do the bills, when I get back to my desk at work.
These and other instances like them are cases when I do not consciously think
about having a cigarette. It just seems to happen.
However, there is more to smoking than just the habit. Just as I don't
understand the heroin addict, I don't expect a non-smoker to understand the
cigarette addict. Smoking is an addiction. I am addicted to the nicotine in
cigarettes. Going through nicotine withdrawl is pure hell. After a few hours
without a "fix", I feel as though I were extremely nervous about something.
The ends of my fingers and toes feel numb. My heart pounds. All bodily act-
ivities seem highlighted and intensified. I become irritable. I can't seem
to sit still. Time passes extremely slowly. Concentration is almost imposs-
able. It is like a nightmare where you think that this is not happening, but
you know full well that it is. But if you light a cigarette, it is like a
shower on a hot and humid evening. A calm feeling flows from head to toe and
you begin to feel "normal" again. Soon after lighting the cigarette, every-
thing seems to be all right with the world, you are just simply more relaxed.
To the addicted smoker, it seems silly to go through the hell of quitting when
smoking is a much simpler and easier thing to do.
Therefore, it is not necessarily the habit that is hard to beat, it is
the addiction that is difficult to break. What it really boils down to is
just how much the smoker wants to quit. If the smoker is willing to go ahead
with the aches and pains associated with nicotine withdrawl and really wants
to quit, the smoker just might make it. Many people have. So far I have not
made it to the point at which I am willing to go ahead and get the help that
I will need to break the addiction. I am not, as the saying goes, sick and
tired of being sick and tired. I believe that a smoker has to reach this
point before successfully trying to quit smoking. (The same thing can be said
of the drug addict, the alcoholic, the overeater, the compulsive gambler, etc.)
All of the above text does not exactly answer the question that you have
asked. However, the above text was meant to show that quitting smoking is not
as simple as getting a warning from "someone in the know." There is much more
to quitting smoking than most non-smokers realize. If logic was to dictate
actions then nobody would drink and drive, all people would make out a will,
everybody would shun junk food and only eat nutritious foods. These things do
happen, everyone to his or her own judgement. Speed limit signs are put up
by "someone in the know" in part to keep the area around the road and the road
itself safe. Yet how many drivers violate these speed limits? How many
people cross a street at an intersection against a red light? Despite many
warnings by many people about the dangers of radiation, we continue to build
more and more nuclear weapons and continue to build more nuclear power plants.
In short, warnings about safety and health by those in "the know" help to
educate us, but do not necessarily cause us to stop.
Why? Because of the human element. Some things just don't seem import-
ant to us until they really hit home. We must experience it. We wind up
saying "Gee, if only I had listened I would not be in this mess" or, "Gee, if
my husband would have had more life insurance like he was told, I wouldn't
be losing this house". Experiences such as these occur all the time. Lessons
in life happen sometimes very harshly. But at least for me and I believe for
many others, these lessons must not only be taught and preached, but must
also unfortunately be experienced.
----
"People don't learn from other's mistakes, and vary rarely learn
from their own."
Conclusion
----------
I have none. At the time of this survey, I knew no smokers personally,
at least I didn't know them well. I just couldn't understand why someone would
do this to themselves. (I believe they should be free to however...) The
replies I got were both interesting and informative, and certainly helped
me understand.
Thanks to all that replied.
Enjoy,
Sean.
--
Sean L. Gilley Phone: (606) 272-9620 or (606) 257-4613
{ihnp4,decvax,ucbvax}!cbosgd!ukma{!ukgs}!slg, slg@UKMA.BITNET
Watches are a conspiracy by Swiss confidence men.