Is it harder to quit smoking or vaping?
Discover the challenges of quitting vaping and if it is harder to quit vaping than cigarettes. Understand the addiction and take a step toward a healthier lifestyle.
Both regular cigarettes and e-cigarette use present unique challenges for users trying to quit. Vaping products are often marketed as alternatives to cigs, but adults and young people alike can struggle with quitting. Young people and adults may face different challenges when quitting these products, with health risks and behavioural factors varying between these groups.
Is quitting vaping harder than cigarettes?
Quitting vaping can sometimes feel harder than quitting cigarettes, even though both are forms of nicotine addiction. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, which is why quitting nicotine whether from vaping or smoking can be so challenging. Both vaping and smoking expose users to toxic chemicals; regular cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer, heart disease, and even death. While e-cigarettes and vaping products may contain fewer toxic chemicals, they are still not risk-free and can cause harm, especially to pregnant women and many young people.
Having a quitting plan is important and may involve counselling, medications, or other forms of treatment. Consulting health care professionals or organisations like the Truth Initiative can improve your chances of success. The FDA regulates some smoking cessation aids, and survey data shows that many young people and adults are seeking to quit nicotine, including those who want to quit JUUL or other tobacco products. The cost of quitting, access to medication, and support systems like counselling or medicine can impact your success. Science has shown that healthy food choices and behavioural support can help reduce withdrawal symptoms and improve overall health during the quitting process.
Vaping devices often deliver higher levels of nicotine more easily and discreetly. Additionally, the convenience of vaping and the lack of traditional smoking cues, such as the need to step outside, can create a stronger, more frequent dependency.
Nicotine addiction is 1% physical and 99% mental
People who try to quit vaping find it as hard as they did when they tried to quit smoking. The reason is nicotine addiction.
Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, and it is only those who attempt to quit nicotine using the wrong kinds of methods who find it hard. Most smokers don’t realise that the problem with nicotine addiction is 1% physical and 99% mental, a fact supported by science.
How can you prove that nicotine addiction is 1% physical and 99% psychological? Consider a heavy smoker on a long-haul flight who cannot smoke.
He resigns himself to this fact. Most smokers even the heaviest in these circumstances don’t even bother using nicotine patches or gum. For most of the flight they feel calm. Yet, 10 hours into an 11-hour flight, something begins to happen.
The flight is coming to an end and the smoker begins to anticipate getting off the plane and being able to light a cigarette. As the smoker checks his watch and notes there is now only a matter of 20 minutes until the end of the flight – he smiles. Soon he will have a cigarette.
Now imagine that smoker when the flight’s captain announces that he is very sorry but due to severe weather conditions at their destination the flight has been diverted to a different airport and the flight will now continue for a further 60 minutes. All of a sudden, the calm smile disappears. The relaxed, expectant smoker, suddenly lurches into a condition that he would immediately describe as nicotine withdrawal; anger, tension, anxiety, upset, and stress.
The physical withdrawal from nicotine didn’t appear in the 6 seconds that it took the pilot to announce the delayed landing. It has been occurring continuously since the smoker stubbed out his cigarette before he boarded the flight more than 10 hours and 40 minutes ago.
Nicotine withdrawal did not cause the sudden onset of the unpleasant symptoms. Something in the smoker’s head, changed as a result of the pilot’s announcement. It is important to use a method such as Allen Carr’s Easyway to Quit Smoking or Allen Carr’s Easyway to Quit Vaping to avoid the psychological problems of quitting – that way the physical addiction is easy to break.
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