Chapter 5

THE ILLUSION OF PLEASURE

IN THIS CHAPTER

• leasure Or Crutch? • I Enjoy The Smell And Taste • My Special Cigarettes • Smoking Or Vaping Eases My Stress • Unless, Of Course, You Choose To Escape • I Enjoy The Ritual • It’s Just A Habit • Easyway Removes Temptation

As long as you stick with the belief that smoking gives you some sort of pleasure or crutch, you will not be able to free yourself from the nicotine trap. It’s essential, then, for me to make sure you fully understand that any pleasure you think you get from smoking is an illusion.

I’m going to make a powerful statement:

You haven’t enjoyed a single cigarette or e-cigarette that you’ve ever smoked!

Now don’t get me wrong – there’s no doubt that you’ve ‘enjoyed’ tremendous ‘relief’ when lighting a cigarette after a long period of time without one, after a long flight, train ride or an attempt to quit. Yet that feeling of enjoyment and relief is nothing more than the feeling you’d get if you wore shoes that were a size too small all day. It would feel fabulous when you took them off. But would you do that with shoes

?

Of course not! We go out of our way to select our shoes carefully – so they fit just right.

You owe nicotine absolutely nothing. No more than you’d be grateful to the thief who stole £100 from you and ‘gifted’ you £10… once you discovered the con, you’d never be grateful to the thief again.

PLEASURE OR CRUTCH?

It is widely assumed, by smokers and non-smokers alike, that the effect of smoking must deliver something positive – otherwise why would people keep doing it?

We all know the dangers of smoking: nobody is denying it is the world’s number one killer, a major cause of cancer, heart disease and emphysema, in addition to the asthma, coughing, wheezing, lack of stamina and numerous other ailments that smokers and vapers put up with to keep getting their fix. So the assumption is that there must be something pretty special about it to make smokers disregard all these negatives and carry on spending vast amounts of money on cigarettes.

The perceived pleasure of smoking lies in the way a cigarette seems to enhance social occasions, make drinks more enjoyable, round off a meal or just put the finishing touch to a relaxing, satisfying moment. The perceived crutch lies in the cigarette’s apparent ability to help you relax, take your mind off the stresses of life and concentrate.

In fact, all these perceived pleasures and crutches are illusory. Cigarettes, e-cigarettes, dip and, in fact, any other nicotine products actually do nothing of the sort.

On the contrary, they are antisocial; they ruin the taste of meals and drinks; they make a relaxing situation feel edgy; they add to your stress; and they destroy your concentration. You simply have

to observe how embarrassed most vapers are when using their devices. It becomes less embarrassing only when they are in the company of other addicts. That’s why smokers and vapers seem to have that camaraderie at parties. It’s a case of ‘Thank goodness – I’m not the only one here!’

But let’s examine the claim that smoking or vaping can help you to take your mind off things at times of stress and help you concentrate at a time when you’re required to focus. Think about it: How can the drug take your mind off things and help you concentrate at the same time?

The person who claims that smoking distracts their mind in a stressful situation will, in the next breath, also claim that it provides no distraction whatsoever when it comes to concentration; in fact, they claim it helps them to do so. If you haven’t immediately grasped the contradictory nature of those two claims, then please read the last two paragraphs again before moving on.

There is no genuine pleasure or crutch to be derived from smoking or vaping; we think there is only because of the brainwashing and the way the nicotine trap twists our perception.

The fact is, our addiction to nicotine makes us incapable of doing anything without a cigarette before, during or after a stressful or focus-requiring event. It’s like the neighbour’s burglar alarm that goes off for hours, and the feeling of relief when it finally stops. This is the only reason you believe that nicotine helps you to focus (you are removing the aggravation of wanting a cigarette) and the only reason you believe it helps you cope with stress (you constantly have the aggravation of wanting a cigarette, and being unable to have a cigarette actually adds to your stress levels).

Am I really expecting you to believe that nobody ever enjoyed a single cigarette? It seems too far-fetched. How could anyone create an illusion on such a massive scale

?

It’s all to do with every smoker’s reluctance to admit to their misery. Instead of admitting to being a helpless slave, they choose to perpetuate the myth that smoking gives them some kind of pleasure or crutch. There is no need for putting a brave face on it. You’re in it together with all the other smokers on the planet, but you can admit the truth here: smoking does nothing for you whatsoever.

Although I expect you’re beginning to understand exactly what I mean, please don’t worry if you require further evidence. Every doubt, every question on your mind at this point will be covered before I ask you to smoke your final cigarette or e-cigarette, or take nicotine in whatever form to which you’re addicted. So let’s examine those illusions and make sure we can see through them.

I ENJOY THE SMELL AND TASTE

Some people say they like the smell of cigarette smoke. Is that reason enough to poison yourself and risk getting cancer, heart disease, emphysema and all the other horrible diseases that smoking can cause? I like the scent of roses, but I could easily live without it. If my life depended on never smelling another rose again, I would have absolutely no problem going along with that. I’m sure you feel the same.

When a smoker quits with the willpower method and is desperately trying to resist the temptation to smoke, the smell of a cigarette might be enough to make them crack, but that’s not because they adore the smell of cigarettes more than life itself. It’s because they associate the smell with the relief of the craving for nicotine.

Most smokers can’t stand the smell of other people’s smoke. They tolerate the smell of their own only because it’s a signal that they’re getting their fix.

Don’t become obsessed with the idea that you like the smell of smoke. It probably sounds weird: I like the smell of gasoline, but I

don’t hang around petrol stations or carry around a small bottle of gasoline to sniff every now and then. It doesn’t matter if you like the smell; all that matters is that you get rid of the belief that you smoke because you like the smell. That’s not why you smoke. You smoke in spite of the smell rather than because of it.

Vaping is no different. Although you might believe that you love the smell of your butterscotch, bubblegum, candyfloss or gummy bear ‘vape juice’, I can assure you that no one is following you around attempting to inhale it themselves. The smell in this case isn’t from a relatively benign source such as a sweet shop (who doesn’t love the smell that surrounds those?). In the case of a vape cloud, its source is revolting.

One of the therapists at our New York centre came up with an excellent analogy. He claimed it’s more likely that someone would eat a ‘camel dung sandwich’ if it smelt like bananas or strawberries and cream. But essentially that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a camel dung sandwich, and as soon as someone is made aware of that, no one, not even someone on one of those weird TV programmes where participants are set repulsive eating challenges, would actually want to eat it.

Nicotine is a poison. When you smoke, you take toxic fumes into your mouth, nose and lungs. The first time you ever inhale smoke it makes you choke and gag, at least a little; the poison is that foul. It’s not a taste that makes you think, ‘I could get hooked on this if I’m not careful.’ On the contrary, it’s so foul that you feel confident you could never get hooked on it.

You smoke the second and third cigarettes because you want to be able to smoke without choking and gagging. You’ve been brainwashed into thinking it’s cool, stylish, grown-up… so you persevere. Eventually the cigarettes no longer make you choke. You call it ‘acquiring the taste’. All you’ve done is acquire a lack of

taste. Your immune system has built a tolerance to the poison, so you’re less sensitive to the foul taste and smell. By this stage, you’re well and truly hooked, and smoking not because you want to be a smoker but because you’re being controlled by addiction.

Most cigarettes are smoked without the smoker paying any attention at all to the taste or smell. In fact, most smokers struggle to taste anything. When you become a non-smoker, you will rediscover just how good food tastes. After years of knocking out your taste buds, your natural survival toolkit will quickly recover its full capacity.

As a smoker, the taste and smell of everything is dulled because of the way your body’s natural defences protect you from poison by building a tolerance. If you notice that a meal you’re eating in a restaurant is too salty, check outside the kitchen door later and you’ll be sure to find a chef who smokes. It destroys the palate – it doesn’t enhance it. No one smokes because they enjoy the taste or smell; they think they do only because they associate the taste and smell with the illusion of relief and the illusion of pleasure which they suffer as a nicotine addict.

When I got pregnant, I quit by reading Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking . That really worked for me. And now Willow, my daughter, makes me not want to smoke. Besides, unlike before, cigarettes now smell repulsive to me.

Pink

I’d recommend Allen Carr’s Easyway to anyone, in fact I’ve recommended it many times.

Michael McIntyr

e

MY SPECIAL CIGARETTES

One of the strongest illusions smokers suffer is that there are certain relaxed occasions when a cigarette tastes particularly special. Typical occasions are first thing in the morning, after a meal, with a drink, during a break at work, when you first get home, after exercise and after lovemaking.

These are all classic occasions when smokers rush to light up with relish, eager to mark the moment by sucking poisonous fumes into their lungs. All these occasions have one thing in common: they follow a period of abstinence. Since the Little Monster has been kept waiting longer than usual, it is constantly prodding the Big Monster, and so the feeling of relief seems greater as a consequence.

The first cigarette in the morning is a strange one. It actually tastes revolting and makes you wheeze, cough and feel lousier than any other cigarette of the day. It seems special because you’ve gone without nicotine for hours. So strong is the human body that it has started to recover overnight, making it more sensitive to the poison. Smokers talk about the hit they get from that first smoke of the day. This is actually their body recoiling from the poison.

Other smokers talk about the ‘buzz’ or ‘high’ from a cigarette in these situations. Wake up! That isn’t a buzz or a high – it’s just a dizzy sensation caused by lack of oxygen to your brain and the poisoning effect of the nicotine. You can get exactly the same feeling by holding your breath for longer than is comfortable or from spinning around in a circle for 20 seconds. Calling it a buzz or a high is just something we do in a vain attempt to justify our smoking. If you’ve ever experienced one of life’s REAL highs, you’ll know that the notion of a high caused by nicotine is a nonsense.

Going back to those special occasions, ask yourself this: Would those moments cease to be special if you took away the cigarette

?

How does a non-smoker feel after a meal? They feel GREAT! How does a smoker or vaper feel if they’re unable to smoke or vape at that time? LOUSY. They light a cigarette and how do they feel? GREAT! In other words – they feel the same as a non-smoker feels! Get it?

How does a non-smoker feel when they hook up with some friends in a bar or coffee shop? GREAT! How does a smoker or vaper feel in that same situation if they’re unable to smoke or vape? LOUSY! How do they feel when they’re able to take their fix of nicotine? GREAT! Like a non-smoker feels all the time.

I’ll keep going for a little longer. By now I hope you understand exactly what I’m saying, but let’s make sure.

How does a non-smoker feel after sex? FABULOUS! How does a smoker feel if they’re unable to smoke? LOUSY! They have a cigarette and feel fabulous… like a non-smoker feels. Actually, this example differs slightly in that often a smoker will ‘get lovemaking over with’ as a matter of urgency – just as soon as the thought of a cigarette enters their mind… Meanwhile, while the smoker’s lighting up their post-coital cigarette, the happy non-smoker is cheerfully carrying on, or enjoying doing it all over again or simply lying wrapped in their lover’s arms. You can see why sometimes having a partner who smokes can be very frustrating and unrewarding for a non-smoker.

Incidentally, if your partner smokes and has no intention of quitting, or fails to quit at the same time as you, please don’t worry. Other than the issue mentioned above, which I’m sure love will conquer, it won’t cause you a problem.

In the past, if your partner carried on smoking when you attempted to quit, it might have made you envious or caused temptation because cigarettes were always around the house, but this time you’re going to be truly free, not remotely tempted to

smoke, so it really won’t bother you if your partner, friends or colleagues continue.

More about special cigarettes, like the one during a break from work: well… there’s no doubt that there is great camaraderie among smokers in the smoking area at work. So, after you’ve quit, make sure you carry on taking those breaks. Go for a ‘no-smoke-break’. You don’t want to miss out on the chat and the gossip and the friendship of those breaks just because you’ve quit smoking. The great thing about being a happy non-smoker is that you can choose when to take your breaks, rather than be compelled to by the Little Monster and the Big Monster. If it’s pouring with rain or freezing cold, you can give it a miss. You can pick and choose when and where to take a break. Other than the phoney relief of the addiction, it’s the break that the smoker enjoys – not the cigarette.

When you stop smoking, you will discover that all these scenarios are not only special regardless of the cigarette; they are actually more special without it.

As a smoker or vaper, you’re never fully relaxed. Therefore, smoking actually spoils relaxing situations by adding an unnecessary layer of stress. Which brings us to the next popular myth.

SMOKING OR VAPING EASES MY STRESS

How can something that creates stress ease stress?

Whenever you smoke, you feed the Little Monster and thus give yourself some temporary relief from the craving. When you don’t understand the nature of the trap you’re in, you interpret this relief as a genuine easing of your stress level. Before the cigarette, you feel stressed; as you smoke the cigarette, you feel less stressed. And so you jump to the simple and obvious conclusion.

But think back to the ‘small man–big man’ illusion earlier. The obvious is not always the truth, particularly if you’ve only been

given one way of looking at it. Stress is a fact of life, suffered by smokers and non-smokers alike.

But smokers suffer an additional layer of stress caused by nicotine withdrawal (the Little Monster) that triggers the even worse feeling of stress (the Big Monster: ‘I want a cigarette – I can’t have one – AAARGH!’). When you light up, you partially relieve this additional layer of stress. But smoking makes no impact on genuine stress. The truth is, it adds to it.

I can guarantee that…

You will be less stressed as a non-smoker

The additional layer of stress is responsible for every smoker’s descent into the nicotine trap. Like the fly in the pitcher plant, once you’re in the nicotine trap there is only one way to go: DOWN.

UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU CHOOSE TO ESCAPE

The natural tendency with any addictive drug is to take more, not less. This is because of your body’s incredible ability to build a tolerance to the poison. Because of this tolerance, each cigarette can give only partial relief from the nicotine craving. You become increasingly desensitized to the poison, so it takes more of the drug to get the same effect. You inhale deeper and more frequently, reduce the gap between cigarettes and maybe even switch to stronger brands.

The graph opposite illustrates the smoker’s descent as time goes by. Let’s say that your level of stress was ‘normal’ before you started smoking. This is indicated as 100 per cent on the diagram. As you experience withdrawal from that first cigarette, you feel a low. You dip down below 100 per cent. Your next cigarette relieves this feeling but not completely because of your

tolerance to the poison. You certainly couldn’t call it a high. At best it’s partial and temporary relief. So you don’t quite make it back to 100 per cent. The next withdrawal causes a low that takes you down further than before. So the pattern continues, taking you down further and further with each cigarette.

All the while, those periods of partial relief are fooling you into thinking you’re getting some pleasure from the cigarettes. You keep believing the myth. But with each cigarette you’re falling further and further below ‘normal’, each time setting yourself a new normal lower than the one before. Meanwhile, your stress level is increasing and your health is deteriorating. You start to feel lethargic and out of breath. You develop a cough and a wheeze. You start to see cancer as a probability rather than an unthinkable risk. This adds another layer of stress, so now you’re experiencing a double low.

As your descent accelerates, you have to admit to yourself that you’re a slave; you’re not smoking because you choose to; the cigarettes are controlling your life. This feeling of helplessness adds to your misery. Now it’s a triple low. Like the fly, you’re

gazing into the pit and resigning yourself to a miserable end.

But the great news is that, unlike the fly, you can escape. And you can do so any time you choose. You’re not in a physical trap – the nicotine trap is entirely of your own making and it exists only in your mind.

You are your own jailer. Change your mindset and you can walk free, easily, immediately and painlessly.

Even better, when you escape the trap, your health and mental wellbeing will bounce back up very quickly. All that added stress will lift from your shoulders, you will enjoy the feeling of renewed health and vigour – not to mention more money – and you will experience a feeling of elation.

Yippee! I’m free!

When you’re smoking, you have to suppress your instincts and bury your head in the sand. That’s the only way you can maintain the illusion of pleasure. You have to block out the foul taste and smell, the money you’re wasting, the slavery and the knowledge that the next cigarette could be the one that triggers cancer. The pretence is very stressful. When you quit, you don’t have to go through that any more. The relief is incredible.

Exercise: LET GO OF UNNECESSARY STRESS

It’s the additional layers of stress that make smokers miserable. The fear of what smoking is doing to you and the misery of being a slave are stresses that non-smokers and non-vapers don’t suffer. You don’t have to suffer them either, now that you know you’re on the way to becoming a happy non-smoker. Just the aggravation of working out when and where you can have your next cigarette or

e-cigarette adds significantly to your stress levels. I used to stop off unnecessarily on trips just so I could have a cigarette. I’d juggle my whole day around when and where I could smoke. For a chain-smoker, it’s like having an extra full-time job.

Next time you think about the effect your smoking or vaping is having on you, let the thought pass without allowing it to make you feel anxious. There is no need to worry any more because you are escaping from the trap. Replace your anxiety with a feeling of anticipation or elation. Instead of letting your thoughts about smoking become a source of stress, think about all the terrific gains you’re about to make, and use the thought as a source of joy.

‘I’M NOT GOING TO BE A SLAVE ANYMORE. I’M GOING TO BE FREE!’

I ENJOY THE RITUAL

A lot of people are attracted to smoking by the paraphernalia – cigarette packs, lighters, boxes of matches, ashtrays, etc. Vaping has created the same kind of thing based around which device, which ‘vape juice’, which flavour. All have a certain style that appeals to young people in search of an identity. A lot of long-term smokers will also tell you that this is what they enjoy about smoking.

The inference is that they wouldn’t smoke if it wasn’t for the ritual of opening the pack, handling the cigarette, clicking the lighter…

I want you to go through your usual ritual now. Focus on each part of it: opening the pack, taking out a cigarette, putting it between your lips. Do everything you usually do. Take your lighter. Light the cigarette. Are you paying attention

?

OK, now stop. Stub out the cigarette immediately, without taking another puff. Put the lighter away. How do you feel? If you’re worried about wasting a cigarette by having only one puff, don’t even light it. Just put it straight back in the pack. Are you satisfied? I suspect you’re not. No smoker smokes for the ritual. If they did, they would be happy to stop short of lighting the cigarette. Imagine that! You could spare yourself all the harmful part and still have the enjoyment.

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? Smokers enjoy the ritual of smoking only because it’s a necessary route to getting their fix. Remember, the only reason anyone smokes or vapes or uses dip or any other nicotine product is to get the nicotine.

Easyway was such a revelation that instantly I was freed from my addiction.

Sir Anthony Hopkins

IT’S JUST A HABIT

When smokers find themselves running out of excuses, they resort to a more resigned explanation as to why they smoke. ‘It’s just a habit.’ They’re no longer trying to convince themselves or anyone else that they’re in control, but there is still the implication that smoking gives them some kind of pleasure or crutch. It’s essential to understand that you smoke because you’re addicted to a drug and that drug addiction is not a habit.

A habit is a repeated behaviour that you do for the familiarity and comfort of repetition. But you don’t smoke for the comfort of repetition; you smoke to get nicotine to relieve the withdrawal pangs from the previous cigarette and ease the mental aggravation caused by the Big Monster

.

If you believe that you smoke because you’ve fallen into the habit, you will find it hard to quit. You will assume it’s just a weakness in your nature that has made you susceptible to the habit. But when you accept that smoking is an addiction and you understand the nature of the nicotine trap, it’s easy to follow the instructions to escape.

Get this clear in your mind: the habit of smoking might trigger the thought of having a cigarette, but that’s not why you smoke. In the past, when you’ve attempted to quit, the habit trigger has caused you to mope for a cigarette, but remember that was when your Big Monster was still alive. You missed cigarettes; you felt deprived.

This time when you quit, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything, so if you habitually experience a trigger – immediately after a meal, for example – it’ll be a moment of happiness, a moment you can remind yourself how lucky you are to be free, rather than a moment for concern. I know you’ll find that hard to believe at this point, but I’m sure you understand exactly what I’m saying, just on principle. That’s all you need to do as we work through this programme.

A further problem with seeing smoking as a habit is that it encourages the belief that you can moderate it, so you can have the occasional cigarette without falling into the trap again. Get it clear in your mind:

There is no such thing as ‘just the one’

If you smoke one, what’s to stop you smoking the next one, and the next? If you retain the desire for just one cigarette, you will not escape the trap

.

EASYWAY REMOVES TEMPTATION

The belief that you smoke out of habit makes smokers feel stupid. One part of your brain is telling you, ‘You’re a fool. Stop doing it!’ Another part is saying, ‘I’m helpless to resist the temptation.’

In fact, smokers are not stupid. They are being conned by a fiendish force called addiction. The temptation exists because you have been brainwashed into believing a myth: that smoking gives you some kind of pleasure or crutch. Even when you reach the point where you can no longer convince yourself that you are getting any pleasure or crutch from smoking, the temptation to go on smoking remains. It is driven by fear. ‘How will I be able to cope without cigarettes?’

What smokers don’t realize is that the cigarette, far from relieving this fear, causes it.

Non-smokers don’t suffer it. The problem is that it works back to front. It’s when you’re not smoking that you notice the empty, insecure feeling that smoking causes. When you light up, the feeling is partially relieved and your brain is fooled into believing that the cigarette is your friend. This is how smoking creates the illusion of pleasure.

The more it drags you down, the more you believe you need your ‘friend’ and the more dependent on the drug you feel. In order to remove the temptation, all you have to do is see through the illusion of pleasure.

Recognize that the empty, insecure feeling you experience when you’re not smoking is nicotine craving caused by smoking and the ‘pleasure’ you feel when you smoke is merely the temporary and partial relief of that craving and the pacification of the Big Monster in your mind.

Exercise: DEFINE THE PLEASURE

Assuming you’ve continued to smoke as you’ve been reading the book as instructed, light a cigarette now and inhale six deep, glorious lungfuls of the carcinogenic filth. Ask yourself, what is so pleasant here? What are you actually enjoying about it?

If you vape, do the same. What are you actually enjoying about it?

Remember, this is the little pleasure or crutch you thought you couldn’t live without. Now is your chance to really identify what that pleasure or crutch amounts to. Hold the smoke or vape in your mouth or lungs and focus on the taste. Let the smoke or vape linger in your nostrils or mouth and focus on the smell. Is it pleasant?

You may well feel a sense of relaxation. It’s the same as taking off tight shoes. Would you deliberately wear tight shoes, just for the relief of taking them off?