Tobacco Addiction as a Biopsychosocial Phenomenon
In tobacco addiction, both chemical processes that regulate our body’s functioning and those of psychological and contextual origin (habits, friendships, etc.) play a role. The nicotine withdrawal syndrome. For this reason, tobacco addiction is a biopsychosocial phenomenon.
During the first few puffs, chemical tobacco addiction has not yet been consolidated. However, there is a certain psychological need to smoke. It is likely that someone who has tried tobacco for the first time finds it an unpleasant experience. Nevertheless, that will not prevent them from deciding to even buy another pack.
Various Forms of the Psychological Need to Smoke
- They always offer me cigarettes, and it has finally piqued my curiosity
- All my friends do it
- I don’t like waiting around with nothing to do
- I use it to appear interesting
Tobacco companies invest in marketing every year to create these invisible forces of attraction towards tobacco. The causes of tobacco addiction exist in the smoker’s body, but also beyond it. These two aspects of addiction have a similar result (the urge to smoke a cigarette) but their causes are completely different. The withdrawal syndrome caused by chemical factors disappears much sooner than the psychological urge to smoke. This is because, although the body’s cells may have learned to readjust to the absence of nicotine, the habits associated with tobacco consumption and the ideas related to smoking (created by marketing teams) take years to begin to fade.
All addictions with chemical causes involve psychological factors that make the task of breaking free difficult. However, addictions of social and contextual origin do not necessarily translate into addiction explained by biology. Therefore, what exacerbates the depth of tobacco addiction is not the psychological factor, but the chemical one. Intervening in the psychological and behavioral sphere makes it easier to cope with chemical tobacco addiction. Understanding the contextual and cognitive factors of those suffering from tobacco addiction is a help to quit smoking.
There is always a way out
Throughout our years of experience helping individuals and families recover, at CCAdicciones we have managed to merge several types of treatment, creating a specific model. The CCAdicciones model maintains a high recovery rate, far superior to the average of other treatments, with 86% of patients recovered. Request information by calling 902 400 426.
