Hi! It’s good to see you! I sure was hoping that you would make it this far. Welcome to Chapter 5!
I think that you are one of the serious ones.
Let’s take a good look at ourselves in this chapter and see if we can discover just what makes us tick!
Shall we proceed? Fine...here we go!
Think back to when you first took a chew or a dip. Can you remember that day?
For others it could have been many, many, years since your first chew or dip.
“Does the length of time I’ve been using my tobacco make any difference in how hard it will be for me to stop?” you might be asking yourself right now.
Does it really matter? I hate to have to say this but, yes, it does matter!
The reason it matters is because as we use tobacco over a period of time, we seem to use it to “fill in” or “compensate” for certain coping skills we would normally develop in order to cope with particular situations.
For instance:
Brandon P. has been dipping snuff for 8 years now.
He started when he was in the 4th grade and has used it everyday since his first chew!
Brandon really enjoyed the feeling of elation and confidence he experienced when he first started dipping.
Of course, he’s been dipping now for 8 years, and he doesn’t get those feelings of elation anymore.
All Brandon gets now is a sore and tender place on his inner lip that feels terrible when he first wakes up in the morning.
He deadens this feeling with his first chew of the day—taken from the can on his nightstand as he gets slowly out of bed each and every morning.
Brandon finds himself chewing more when he is under stress.
It doesn’t matter if the stress is caused by a nice and exciting surprise that fills him with elation, or by some letdown that leaves him depressed.
It’s all the same to Brandon as he reaches for his chew...
The bottom line to Brandon’s story is to show you what happens psychologically over a period of time.
The longer you chew or dip, the more psychologically dependent you become upon it.
It becomes harder for you to “disassociate” yourself from chewing or dipping because of external stimuli.
Dipping or chewing is used by us as a reward after experiencing happy and excited feelings or, as a consolation prize after becoming depressed or miserable.
We often chew to alleviate boredom, or as a reward for attempting something that we dread to do!
The psychological triggers (people, places, or things that make us reach for and take a dip or chew), are mostly what cause us to stumble when we are trying to quit.
The physical addiction only takes about 7 days to overcome, but it takes several weeks or months to lay to rest the psychological triggers that hold us prisoners to that little round can or pouch!
How long will it take? That will depend on you. Each person is different.
