Quitting smoking requires treating tobacco as an addiction and not as a habit. That was the focus of the experience-sharing session held in the training building of the Joan XXIII Hospital in Tarragona, where professionals and patients shared symptoms, strategies, and progress in the quitting process.
The paradox was summarized by Blanca Carcolè, a clinical psychologist at the Centre d'Adiccions i Seguiment de Drogodependències of Tarragona. Tobacco, she argued, generates a dependence comparable to that of cocaine or heroin, but it does not provoke the same social rejection, which makes it difficult for many smokers to identify the problem as an addiction.
Carcolè argued that smoking requires an addiction approach
During the session, Carcolè insisted that smoking should not be seen as a simple habit. In her opinion, group meetings are among the most useful tools for quitting because they allow people going through the same process to share symptoms, relapses, and support mechanisms.
One of the attendees described withdrawal as follows:
"I have itching, insomnia, constipation... I feel like I'm in a long-distance race" - participating healthcare professional, experience-sharing session in Tarragona
The psychologist also explained that addictions leave a mark on memory. Therefore, when faced with traumatic emotional episodes, many people tend to return to smoking as a learned response to cope with discomfort.
Along the same lines, the group addressed the role of the immediate environment. Carcolè recommended that family members be aware of the goal of the person who wants to quit smoking and that the rights of the person who has stopped consuming should prevail at home, as living with smokers increases the risk of relapse.
36.5% of Spaniards smoke and two out of three have tried to quit
The data framing the meeting indicate a still high prevalence of consumption. A study by Aegon places the proportion of Spaniards who smoke at 36.5%, almost three percentage points higher than the previous year.
At the same time, 65.2% of smokers claim to have tried to quit. That gap between the desire to quit and the difficulty in sustaining it was one of the central issues of the day organized in Tarragona.
In addition to sharing experiences, participants took a carboximetry test. The test measures the binding of carbon monoxide to hemoglobin and allows for the observation of a health indicator that improves rapidly when smoking is abandoned.
Another of the attendees put figures and sensations to that change by recounting the recovery of smell and taste, a greater sense of freedom and a saving of 400 euros per month since he stopped smoking.