I recently gave Karelia menthols a try as somebody who never smoked. What a waste of time. This calming down nerves myth has gotten out of hand. The more tobacco, the worse cigarettes taste. How does it calm your nerves, wouldn't you be nervous and angered if you wake up in the middle of the night coughing out your guts out of your clogged and irreparably damaged throat and lungs?
Especially since it will cost you money.
The longer you smoke the more your body's response reduces to the particulates in the smoke. So your defenses are reduced, which can cause more harm to your throat and lungs.
The sad fact of the matter is, that the chemicals in tobacco can be a very rapid way of reducing an acute attack of nerves or anxiety. It's relaxing. But very bad for you.
The coughing is your body telling you to stop. It's perhaps worth following it's advice.
I don't think many people start off with the intention of being a habitual smoker. They try it for numerous reasons. Perhaps it helps them feel better when the world just presents them with shit. Then they get hooked.
For many smokers, it's a nice interlude to have a cigarette break. Really in a lot of ways, (excluding 2nd hand smoke) it's no different to having a cup of tea. It's just as far as we know, tea doesn't give you cancer.
I suspect that if science discovered that tea had in fact been a leading cause of cancer that had not been detected, there would be very little willingness to quit tea. Or very little appetite to shame tea drinkers.
To be honest I think the way people in the medical and mental health industry treat smokers, who are statistically more likely to have mental illness, is pretty disgusting. I've heard such pearls of wisdom as "It's just like being a heroine addict!" Well, no it's not, it's sold legally in just about every corner store. People generally don't rob people to fund their habit. And finally, have you ever seen the state of someone who just took a hit of heroin? I can tell you (after tragically discovering several of my friends just had) "functional" is not a word you could use to describe them.
It's a bad idea to start smoking for any reason. But if you feel like shit everyday, and feel suicidal. The life reducing effects of tobacco can seem like a moot point. So I'm not surprised that depressed people are more likely to smoke.
But when it comes to persuading them to stop. You need a little more carrot than the fucking big stick most people use. Comparing smokers to heroin addicts is perverse and not constructive.
The best way is not to give people another excuse to dismiss your problems by taking up smoking and just don't start.
For what it's worth, I do so enjoy watching my doctors squirm when I tell them I don't smoke. They've been chalking every problem I have up to being a smoker. It's just so fun to see the look on their faces. It's actually far more satisfying than any cigarette.
