Survey Reveals True Extent To Which Smoking Can Affect Relationships And Family Life

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 17 Feb 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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In the run up to No Smoking Day this year (March 11th), a survey commissioned by nicotine-free smoking cessation aid NicoBloc, has uncovered how smoking can affect family life and relationships in the UK.

Of the 353 smokers questioned in the NicoBloc survey, over 42% of those trying to quit revealed that smoking causes arguments with their partner and family. For a fifth of respondents, smoking triggers problems with their sex life and relationships and a third of smokers said that they actually lie to their partner about their smoking habits.

Peer Pressure

A third of respondents said they started smoking for social reasons as they thought it looked cool or were embarrassed not to smoke in front of their friends, with only 14% admitting to having started because they actually liked the taste. A fifth took up smoking to help them relax and over 70% of the smokers questioned felt guilty every time they smoked, raising stress levels.

Old Habits Die Hard

Unsurprisingly, 89% of those who have tried to quit many times before worry about the effect smoking has on their health. 78% of the smokers questioned in the survey, who had all repeatedly tried and failed to quit reported that the habit of smoking was harder to give up than the actual chemical addiction, with 71% stating that they missed having something in their hands when they were trying to quit. It's estimated that an average 20-a-day smoker will make the 'hand-to-mouth' action 73,000 times a year, adding extra psychological pressure on the would-be quitter .

Dr Lynne Dawkins, Senior Psychology Lecturer at the University of East London comments: "The hand-to-mouth action of smoking through associative learning mechanisms can become a deeply entrenched habit. The habitual act of reaching for a cigarette, coupled with reduced impulse control during a quit attempt, may constitute a strong relapse factor. Any smoking cessation aids which more closely resemble a cigarette could help more smokers to quit."

NicoBloc is a two-step approach, first helping to break the addiction to nicotine and then helping to give up the physical cigarette and hand-to-mouth habit. An alternative to NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) and drug-based smoking cessation methods, NicoBloc is a fluid applied to the end of a cigarette filter immediately before smoking. The fluid works by moistening the cigarette filter, cooling the smoke down as it is drawn through. The tar and nicotine vapour molecules condense back into solid form, sticking to the filter material instead of being passed through to the smoker.

Designed as a gradual reduction method, the amount of nicotine that is inhaled is gradually reduced over a three-week period. During the recommended six-week quit programme, one drop is applied in week one, two drops in week two and three drops from week three onwards. By this time up to 99% of tar and nicotine inhalation is blocked.

Lita Huckle, a former smoker from Berkshire, finally quit in 1999 with the aid of NicoBloc having repeatedly failed to kick her 20 year 20-a-day habit. She says: "I had previously tried to quit before but found the lure of social smoking got in the way. When I used NicoBloc I didn't have to quit straight away and it gave me a chance to get used to not smoking so much over a period of time before making the final break."

NicoBloc (£19.56) is available in independent pharmacies and online with each pack including an instructions DVD, progress chart and a 15ml bottle which provides two weeks supply for a typical 20-a-day smoker. For further information and support visit http://www.nicobloc.co.ukor call 01452 524 012.

NicoBloc

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