An Israeli study has been released that shows cigarette smoking may be more psychologically habitual than physically addictive – a finding that may help more smokers to quit.
Though the findings contradict the current theories around nicotine addiction, Dr Reuven Dar, of Tel Aviv University, who headed the research, believes the results could lead to a breakthrough in understanding and fighting tobacco addiction.
It is estimated by the World Health Organisation that around one-fifth of the world’s population smokes tobacco – some 1.35 billion people, with someone dying from tobacco-related causes every eight seconds worldwide. This amounts to around five million deaths annually around the world.
Dar’s findings, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, were based on the conclusions from two breakthrough studies which looked at the cravings and smoking behaviour of flight attendants working on the Israeli national airline on both long- and short-haul flights.
The study revealed that cigarette craving levels were increased near the end of the flight regardless of how long the flight was, showing that the anticipation of the plane landing, and thus anticipation of smoking, actually triggered the cravings, and not the length of time of nicotine withdrawal. Similar results have been found in earlier studies conducted by Dar’s research team.
Based on these results, Dar claims that nicotine does not have a strong physiological addictive quality, and that cravings are more psychosocial in nature. According to Dar, established cues that are psychologically associated with smoking are the real cause of nicotine cravings.
Dar believes this new research could aid both smokers and health authorities in more effective treatments for quitting smoking.
For further details, see:
http://www.israel21c.org/201007188152/health/smoking-a-habit-not-an-addiction