Smoking, like other addictions, creates a social subculture. Co-workers take smoke breaks together, friends who smoke hang out in bars together and some websites even cater to smokers seeking romantic relationships. If you wish to quit smoking, you may need to change how you socialize in order to give up the addiction.
Social Smoking History
A 1604 essay by King James I of England, "A Counterblast to Tobacco," stated that smokers were ruining meals by puffing on "tobacco pipes . . . when very often, men that abhor it are at their repast." Victorian novels showed scenes of men relaxing after upper-class dinners with cigars and brandy. Groups of American smokers also drank together in the saloons described in novelist Jack London's 1913 alcoholism memoir, "John Barleycorn." By the early 1960's, smoking plus drinking was an epidemic in America, as shown in "Mad Men," a television series set in that era. With the publication of a U.S. Surgeon General's adverse report on smoking in 1972, the public began turning against smoking.
Joining Smoking Subculture
Your participation in the smoking subculture likely began when you were a child. A 2010 study by researcher Andrea Villanti and her colleagues at Johns Hopkins University found that teenagers who become smokers often have parents who smoke and peers who smoke. They are also exposed to tobacco use in the media. A 2004 study by Dr. Susan Moran and her co-authors at the Harvard School of Public Health confirmed that there is an entire group of "social smokers" among U.S. college students who smoke primarily when around other people.
A Smoking Spouse
Those who are married or partnered with a smoker run the risk of becoming further entrenched in the smoking subculture. The Center for Healthy Living of the University of British Columbia, in a free downloadable PDF booklet, "Couples and Smoking," describes how couples develop TRIPs -- Tobacco Related Interaction Patterns -- such as lighting each other's cigarettes that make it hard for a smoker to quit smoking. The booklet describes ways that you can approach your spouse for support in giving up cigarettes and establishing new patterns of intimacy.
Quitting Smoking Subculture
Ask your smoking spouse, friends and relatives to socialize with you in places where smoking is not allowed, and do not go outside with them when they take a smoke break. Start looking for new friends to add to your social circle who are nonsmokers. Join a support group for people who are trying to stop smoking. Ask your spouse, family members and friends to smoke outside of your house instead of indoors. Tell your co-workers who smoke that you will join them for lunch instead of smoke breaks.
Get Support
Many of your relatives and current friends are probably smokers. An essay produced by the National Cancer Institute, "Being Around Other Smokers ... Without Smoking" warns that some friends and relatives who smoke may pressure you to resume smoking. If you need immediate support, consider contacting Nicotine Anonymous, a 12-Steps organization providing support to people quitting smoking all over the world.
References
- netdoctor: Smoking: psychological and social influencess
- Helpguide.org: How To Quit Smoking
- National Cancer Institute: Quitting Tobacco: Being Around Other Smokers
- Quitsmoking.com: How To Quit Smoking When Everyone Around You Still Smokes
- Center for Healthy Living: Couples and Smoking
- Nicotine Anonymous
