New research from the Cancer Council Victoria has found the psychology of quitting smoking is directly related to to everyday activities.
The data identifies the top triggers for smokers as stress, friends and going out.
An alarming 80 per cent of people said their biggest challenge for a smoke-free life was being around friends who smoke, proving peer pressure plays a major role at any age.
The second biggest trigger was stress; the report found just thinking about quitting smoking can cause enough stress to cause a person to start smoking again.
Eighty-seven per cent of people planning to quit this month identified stress as a trigger, while 77 per cent of people not planning to quit recognised stress as a trigger.
University of Melbourne Arts student Nathan Peters, now a non-smoker, said stress played a major role when he was trying to quit.
“Smoking was a good form of stress relief, especially when studying and doing assignments,” he said.
The third major impulsive prompt for smokers was parties and a night out.
The data suggested there is a relationship between how many attempts a person tried to quit and their social life.
It found 79 per cent of smokers who had made two or more quit attempts were significantly more likely to say parties or nights out triggered their impulse to smoke compared to 65 per cent of smokers who had made no previous attempts.
Peters, who successfully quit smoking after two attempts, said, “There were several triggers, alcohol being a main one.”
He found it very difficult to stay quit if he was going out to a party, identifying alcohol during social situations as a major trigger.
Bachelor of Science student at University of Melbourne Ben Rule agrees spending time with his friends and drinking alcohol play a significant role in his habitual smoking routine.
“If I see my friends I’ll want a smoke, and when I’m drunk I probably have twice as many cigarettes as I do sober,” he said.
Rule, who says he has attempted to stop smoking quite a few times, said, “There’s things like having a smoke with coffee, or eating something will make me want a smoke too.”
Nic Pavlovic, a pyschology student at Swinburne University, said a combination of many different factors coaxed him into being a full-time smoker.
“The main ones were probably alcohol and friends, but I made the jump from social smoking to full-time being addicted due to personal stresses,” said Mr Pavlovic.
These findings coincide with Quit Victoria’s launch of a new television commercial encouraging smokers to recognise, understand and respond to their own personal smoking triggers.
Quit Victoria acting director Craig Sinclair said the challenge for many smokers is staying quit in the face of these everyday activities.
“Research has shown that most smokers don’t want to smoke but lack the confidence, self-awareness and skills to quit successfully.
“We know a significant majority (84 per cent) of Victorian smokers have tried to quit at least once while over half (52.7 per cent) have tried to quit multiple times,” Mr Sinclair said.
The study also identified different triggers for both males and females.
While stress was the biggest trigger for both males and females, women are more likely to identify stress as a smoking trigger.
Men are significantly more likely to report that work breaks trigger their smoking, whereas women were more likely to identify phone calls as theirs.
Image courtesy of creative commons/ flickr – Tela Chhe
