Why can't I quit?

[Sirius]

Read this article and it got me to wondering if there are addicts who just cannot quit.     Source:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2658995/Why-people-quit-smoking-Their-brains-register-benefits-quitting-study-suggests.html     Why can't some people quit smoking? Their brains can't register the benefits of quitting, study suggests   

• Researchers can predict how effective a reward-based quitting strategy would be for someone based on studies of their brain activity
• Those who exhibit the weakest response to rewards are least likely to quit
• This applies even when they are offered money to give up the habit

By Emma Innes

PUBLISHED: 09:57 EDT, 16 June 2014 | UPDATED: 10:06 EDT, 16 June 2014

 

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How easy a person finds giving up smoking could be determined by the amount of activity in the reward centre of their brain

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There are those who can go cold turkey and others who simply can't kick the habit.

Now researchers think they have discovered why some people just can't stop smoking – and it’s all to do with activity in the brain.

The U.S. scientists found they could predict how effective a reward-based quitting strategy would be in an individual by studying their brain activity.

The researchers observed the brains of nicotine-deprived smokers using MRI scans.

They found those who exhibited the weakest response to rewards were also the least willing to stop smoking, even when offered money to do so.

‘We believe that our findings may help to explain why some smokers find it so difficult to quit smoking,’ said Dr Stephen Wilson, assistant professor of psychology, at Penn State University, in Pennsylvania. 

‘Namely, potential sources of reinforcement for giving up smoking - for example, the prospect of saving money or improving health - may hold less value for some individuals and, accordingly, have less impact on their behaviour.’

The researchers recruited 44 smokers to examine brain reward centre responses to monetary reward in those expecting to smoke and in those who were not, and the subsequent willingness of the smokers to forego a cigarette in an effort to earn more money.

The participants, who were between the ages of 18 and 45, all reported that they smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day for the past 12 months. 

They were instructed to abstain from smoking and from using any products containing nicotine for 12 hours prior to arriving for the experiment.

Each participant spent time in an fMRI scanner while playing a card-guessing game with the potential to win money. 

The participants were informed that they would have to wait approximately two hours, until the experiment was over, to smoke a cigarette. 

Partway through the card-guessing task, half of the participants were informed that there had been a mistake, and they would be allowed to smoke during a 50-minute break that would occur in another 16 minutes.

 

 

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Smokers who exhibit the weakest response to rewards are the least willing to refrain from smoking, even when offered money to do so, the researchers found

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However, when the time came for the cigarette break, the participant was told that for every five minutes he or she did not smoke, he or she would receive $1 - with the potential to earn up to $10.

Dr Wilson and his colleagues found smokers who could not resist the temptation to smoke also showed weaker responses in their brains’ reward centres when offered monetary rewards while in the fMRI.

‘Our results suggest that it may be possible to identify individuals prospectively by measuring how their brains respond to rewards, an observation that has significant conceptual and clinical implications,’ said Dr Wilson. 

‘For example, particularly at-risk smokers could potentially be identified prior to a quit attempt and be provided with special interventions designed to increase their chances for success.’

[Doreensfree]

Interesting read !!!!

I think my friend is one of those folks ..who just carnt..

She goes to great lengths to make her addiction more attractive... What she cart see ..won't hurt..

Putting tape all around the packets ,so she carnt see the horrific pictures..her addiction takes time and effort...

It saddens me to sit and watch...

[sgt.barney]

They *absolutely* can.

 

They just won't.

 

Put 'em someplace where they have no access to smokes and they'll quit just fine. The local Jails here don't allow smoking. Everybody quits just fine. A lot of bitchin and moaning, but 109% quitting.

 

Every-damned-body can quit.

 

Easy Peasy

[Sazerac]

They *absolutely* can.

 

They just won't.

 

Put 'em someplace where they have no access to smokes and they'll quit just fine. The local Jails here don't allow smoking. Everybody quits just fine. A lot of bitchin and moaning, but 109% quitting.

 

Every-damned-body can quit.

 

Easy Peasy

Yes yes yes.

Love

s

[bakon]

What window licking moronic booger eater thought this up? Play a game and don't smoke but smoke but wait five minutes for a dollar?

Bet same results would happen with boo, Barney, the enigma or any other male in here with pictures of naked girls and baby oil.

[Boo]

What window licking moronic booger eater thought this up? Play a game and don't smoke but smoke but wait five minutes for a dollar?

Bet same results would happen with boo, Barney, the enigma or any other male in here with pictures of naked girls and baby oil.

 

[Dee]

interesting don't quite know if I believe it or not. I do know  there are some people who pick up smoking yet never really get addicted it to so they just pick them up or put them down at will but I don't think that is what this is saying.

[nervousnellie]

interesting don't quite know if I believe it or not. I do know  there are some people who pick up smoking yet never really get addicted it to so they just pick them up or put them down at will but I don't think that is what this is saying.

 

my friend is one of those people. she can go months and months without smoking but then will smoke for a week or weekend, yet can put them back down for another few months when there is much going on around her. i will never understand that. the obvious would be to just keep leaving them put down.

 

i wish it was as easy as some mention it to be. i know that everyone's journey is different. some have it better than others with the physical [and definitely mental] aspects of their quit. but in the long run, support is huge. but people like myself need to do the footwork.

[Reciprocity]

I think the vast majority of us are in your camp nn!

 

It certainly wasn't "easy" for me and I suspect most of the people on this board who have substantial quits under their belts yet remain here doing what they can to nurture new quitters. It's that understanding of just how difficult it can be and our sincere appreciation for the support we all had coming through the process that keeps them here giving to others. If it was easy for any of these wonderful people, they would just get through their quit and be gone, assuming it would be just as easy for everyone coming up behind them.

[sgt.barney]

i wish it was as easy as some mention it to be.

It is as easy or as difficult as you choose to make it.

 

"Mind over Matter" as the saying goes: if you don't mind, then it don't matter.

 

Embrace The Suck and you will be amazed at how easy it becomes.

 

Fight it and you will live in misery.

 

 

 

Easy Peasy