Tobacco & Smoking Addiction Treatment

Nicotine, like alcohol, is addictive for certain people. Some smokers can turn their habit on and off - smoke or not smoke - at will. Others, about 25 percent of smokers, find the addictive powers of nicotine impossible to control. For these people, smoking is not a habit, but a true addiction.

Habits are lodged in the subconscious - not the reasoning mind. That's why it's so tough to quit - the reasoning mind understands that smoking is dangerous, but the compulsion to smoke resides in the subconscious - the result of literally millions of pleasurable responses to the drug nicotine. Nicotine has imprinted the survival center with the idea that we need nicotine for relief from tension, stress, boredom, etc. Our natural reward center is changed - fooled by nicotine. That's difficult to change. Because Schick understands the nature of addiction, Schick is able to help patients block previous pleasant associations with nicotine and substitute a new message of distaste and boredom with cigarettes.

Risks of Being a Smoker

• chance of emphysema, heart disease; cancer risk increased by 100 to 1,000 percent
• hundreds to thousands of dollars a year wasted on tobacco
• lack of energy
• shortness of breath
• poor circulation
• socially unacceptable behavior
• burned clothing and furniture

• no more craving for nicotine
• very little chance of weight gain
• large amount of money saved
• more energy
• better taste
• return of healthy lung function
• lower blood pressure
• reduced risk of disabling diseases
• no social or business restrictions