July 01, 2005
Smoking
I went out to coffee with a couple of friends yesterday. One topic that came up was why they didn’t like people who smoked. The main reason they cited was that people smoke to look cool. However, I think it depends upon what kind of people one is exposed to, and their own perception of them. I believe that people start smoking out of curiosity of the high it gives, and if they like it, they carry on smoking. At least that was how my opinion formed in my early days while interacting with my schoolmates. But now I’m also exposed to people who smoke to look cool, even though they don’t like smoking. It mainly stems from the insecurity people have about themselves, with their relation amongst their peers. I believe that if the person has a strong opinion against smoking even after trying it, s/he wouldn’t smoke even if they like it, as they know the effects of it. Some of the people who smoke do it because of the substance abuse disorder they have, though it is not simple classifying them as such unless they are smoking to the extreme, as most of the categorizations are open to changes and debates.
On the other hand, schizophrenics smoke up to 3 to 4 times more than the general population. Even those who didn’t smoke before their illness start smoking. It’s been known for long that schizophrenics smoke as a form of self medication in order to control the side effects of their medicines. However, according to a recent study (available on the newsblog of this site), smoking helps in controlling the cognitive defects of the illness, mainly attentiveness and short term memory, whereas smoking doesn’t effect the same in the ‘normal’ control group. It certainly tells a lot about the reason for the smoking habits of schizophrenics.
Other than that, I’ve been doing well; doing some reading, watching movies, and listening to songs.
Posted by puzli at July 1, 2005 05:10 AM
Comments
Dear Pulzi,
Reading your blog has been and continues to be a true learning experience for me. I collect knowledge like a miser. I am so delighted when one more new fact is added to the storage compartment in my brain. I have long known the statistics on the predominace of smoking among schizophrenics, but I didn't know the reason for it. Thanks to you, now I do, and it makes a great deal of sense. One thing you neglected to mention was whether or not YOU smoke. I may be wrong, but my intuition tells me that you do not smoke. This would be in keeping with your perfectionist personality which is so similar to my own. Let me know if I was correct in my assumption.(Needless to say, if you do smoke, this does not in any way diminish my admiration for you. I am just curious.)
Fondly, Paula
Posted by: Paula Kirkpatrick at July 2, 2005 02:08 AM
hey paula :)
well I do smoke occasionally. but during my exams I smoke regularly, when I can't seem to cope up with all the information. I try my best to quit for as long as possible. love puzli
Posted by: puzli at July 2, 2005 04:32 AM
Dear Puzli,
Well I was not aware that smoking can ease some of the side effects of medicines, but well it is a fact that mental illness makes one more prone to get addicted to psychostimulants. I myself at times feel like resorting to these things, but fortunately for me these things didn't help much. The only form of escapism that I resorted to was to watch hours of television, at times 18 hrs on stretch(My Dad firmly beleives television addiction is the only problem with me :-) ).
Well yes these things may offer temporary respite but you can't deny that in long run these things cause more harm than good. Iam very much sure that you won't develop any such problems, but even then be careful to keep these things in check. And quite glad to hear that things are going well for you. Be sure to inform us about your results which I am sure are going to be good :-).
Take Care.
Warm Regards
vish
Posted by: vish at July 3, 2005 02:47 PM
Hello guys, It's not hard to stop smoking, just keep trying then you will certainly forget about smoking.. lots of people had already kicked smoking out of their life... you can also do it...
Read some infos here, it helped me from smoking so its gonna help you all also
http://quit-smoking-today.net
Posted by: Jim Buster at November 26, 2007 04:57 PM
Post a comment
Dear Pulzi,
Reading your blog has been and continues to be a true learning experience for me. I collect knowledge like a miser. I am so delighted when one more new fact is added to the storage compartment in my brain. I have long known the statistics on the predominace of smoking among schizophrenics, but I didn't know the reason for it. Thanks to you, now I do, and it makes a great deal of sense. One thing you neglected to mention was whether or not YOU smoke. I may be wrong, but my intuition tells me that you do not smoke. This would be in keeping with your perfectionist personality which is so similar to my own. Let me know if I was correct in my assumption.(Needless to say, if you do smoke, this does not in any way diminish my admiration for you. I am just curious.)
Fondly, Paula
Posted by: Paula Kirkpatrick at July 2, 2005 02:08 AM
hey paula :)
well I do smoke occasionally. but during my exams I smoke regularly, when I can't seem to cope up with all the information. I try my best to quit for as long as possible. love puzli
Posted by: puzli at July 2, 2005 04:32 AM
Dear Puzli,
Well I was not aware that smoking can ease some of the side effects of medicines, but well it is a fact that mental illness makes one more prone to get addicted to psychostimulants. I myself at times feel like resorting to these things, but fortunately for me these things didn't help much. The only form of escapism that I resorted to was to watch hours of television, at times 18 hrs on stretch(My Dad firmly beleives television addiction is the only problem with me :-) ).
Well yes these things may offer temporary respite but you can't deny that in long run these things cause more harm than good. Iam very much sure that you won't develop any such problems, but even then be careful to keep these things in check. And quite glad to hear that things are going well for you. Be sure to inform us about your results which I am sure are going to be good :-).
Take Care.
Warm Regards
vish
Posted by: vish at July 3, 2005 02:47 PM
Hello guys, It's not hard to stop smoking, just keep trying then you will certainly forget about smoking.. lots of people had already kicked smoking out of their life... you can also do it...
Read some infos here, it helped me from smoking so its gonna help you all also
http://quit-smoking-today.net
Posted by: Jim Buster at November 26, 2007 04:57 PM