Smoking is a very unnatural behaviour. In this day and age pretty much all smokers understand that smoking damages their health. Still many of them continue to smoke for years as they slowly suffer the damage brought on by this habit. If you look at just the facts smoking is a disgusting practice. It stains the teeth and the fingers, causes bad breath, and creates an unpleasant environment for non-smokers.
They must derive some pleasure from smoking though or no one would put up with all of the negative factors to continue doing it. Some smokers admit that they enjoy cigarettes, in fact some people that manage to quit feel like they gave up a part of themselves.
Since tobacco is addictive it is easy to see why many people have so much trouble breaking the habit. Less understandable is what motivates people to take their first cigarette. What is it that makes a person decide to start smoking?
Many people start smoking when they are teenagers. This is often the result of peer pressure as adolescents struggle to fit in and feel included. Of course, this desire is also present in adults and can be a motivating factor behind much human behaviour. Many teenagers begin smoking because they want to look and feel more mature. If they are around people who smoke there is a lot of pressure for them to also take up the habit.
Young people may start smoking as a form of rebellion against their parents and teachers. Most young people are already aware of the dangers of smoking so trying to influence them with health information is not likely to help.
Appealing advertising is also a big motivator in the desire to take up smoking. Tobacco ads usually depict young healthy active people taking part in fun group activities. This sends the message that if you smoke then you can have a fun and care free life too.
These types of advertisements can influence adults just as easily as teenagers. They are usually self-aware enough to know that smoking will not be the deciding factor behind social acceptance, but there is still a subconscious desire to believe what the advertiser is trying to tell them. This can greatly affect some people especially young adults still trying to decide exactly where they fit.
Perhaps certain individuals are more drawn to smoking than others. It is believed that people who tend to have a longer outlook are less likely to start smoking because the future health risks are more of a deterrent for them. On the contrary, those with shorter outlooks are more likely to smoke.
Other people turn to smoking because they are looking for a way to relieve stress. In the long run nicotine actually increases the bodies stress level but it does provide a temporary stress relief. It is not unusual for people with stressful careers or who are going through a particularly difficult time to start smoking.
Most people will eventually decide that they want to quit. This can be cause by health problems or the continuing social pressure on smokers. Unfortunately for anyone that has been smoking for very long breaking the habit can be a very long and difficult process.