Self-proclaimed 'social' smokers may be delusional

Wednesday, January 22, 2014 by: Josh Anderson
Tags: social smokers, cigarettes, delusional thinking

(NaturalNews) A recent survey by the Co-operative Pharmacy may point to the fact that self-proclaimed social smokers may be delusional to the fact that they are actually frequent or common smokers, with many smoking up to 20 cigarettes a day. In the survey, one in three self-proclaimed smokers (self-proclaimed smokers = 24% of the 2,000 participants) actually bought up to a pack a day.

Smoking bans in public areas across the nation have helped many people quit or decrease their smoking rates. This decrease in smoking rates has caused many smokers to classify themselves as social smokers. In fact, a manager at the Co-operative Pharmacy had this to say regarding classifying your habit as a social one: "But many smokers are convincing themselves they are consuming less tobacco than they actually are by classing their habit as a 'social' one."

She went on to say, "People see it as more acceptable to be a social smoker than admitting they regularly light up each day, even though our research shows that this is the case."

We know that just a few cigarettes a day can have adverse health effects on smokers. For instance, smoking can double your risk of heart disease and increase your risk of stroke, oral cancer and lung cancer, just to name a few health conditions. By quitting, you can start to reverse many harmful effects of smoking. A study presented at the American Heart Associations' Scientific Sessions illustrated that heavy smokers who quit earlier could decrease their chance of cardiovascular disease-related death to the level of people who have never smoked within 15 years. From the survey, many people said they began smoking due to its social aspect (13% of participants) and many have tried to quit but were unsuccessful (47% of participants). This has lead to many cutting down on their smoking or proclaiming themselves as social smokers.

The point is that classifying yourself as a social smoker may be fooling yourself into thinking that you are causing less self-induced bodily harm than you really are doing. This can decrease you chances of ever quitting. By convincing yourself internally that you don't have a problem, your chances of trying to quit greatly decline. Why quit if there isn't a problem?

Sources for this article include:

http://www.sciencedaily.com

http://www.sciencedaily.com

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.sciencedaily.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

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