📏 Stop-smoking medicine doesn't erase the urge. It creates distance before relapse
Stop-smoking medicine doesn't erase the urge to smoke. It creates distance before relapse.
Expect too much from stop-smoking medicine and you'll be let down.
"I took the medicine and I still want to smoke."
"I'm wearing the patch and I'm still irritable."
"This is pointless, then."
Some people feel this and quit treatment. But the real value of stop-smoking medicine isn't erasing the urge completely.
It's creating distance between the urge to smoke and the act of actually smoking.
In early quitting, the urge is a reflex
In early quitting, the urge is close to a reflex. You stand up after a meal. Head to the convenience store. Feel in your pocket. Light up. Your body moves before you think. This is the state where habit and addiction are joined.