Junkie Thinking
Excuses to smoke
JUNKIE THINKING: "One Puff won't hurt"
RESPONSE: "One puff will always hurt me, and it always will
because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking
compulsively again."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I only want one."
RESPONSE: "I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want
20-30 a day every day. I want them all."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just be a social smoker."
RESPONSE: "I'm a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke
one I'll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers
can take it or leave it. That's not me."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now."
RESPONSE: "The only reason I'm doing so well is because I
haven't taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won't be doing well
anymore. I'll be smoking again."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I'll just stop again."
RESPONSE: "Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look
how long it too me to stop this time. And once I start, how long
will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again?
In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee
do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?"
JUNKIE THINKING: "If I slip, I'll keep trying."
RESPONSE: "If I think I can get away with one little "slip"
now I'll think I can get away with another little "slip"
later on."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I need one to get me through this withdrawal."
RESPONSE: "Smoking will not get me through the discomfort
of not smoking. I will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops
the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through it all over
again."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I miss smoking right now."
RESPONSE: "Of course I miss something I've been doing every
day for most of my life. Bud do I miss the chest pain right now?
Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I'd rather be an ex-smoker
with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant
desire to stop doing it."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset."
RESPONSE: "Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still
be upset, I'll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a
cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it's a want. Once the crisis
is over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still not smoking."
JUNKIE THINKING: "I don't care."
RESPONSE: "What is it exactly that I think that I don't care
about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about chest pain? I don't
care about gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung cancer?
No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped
smoking in the first place."
JUNKIE THINKING:
"What difference does it make, anyway?"
RESPONSE: "It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the
way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous
difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health."