Why Do You Smoke?
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
National Cancer Institute
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
Here are some statements made by people to describe what they get out of smoking cigarettes. How often so you fell this way.
Important: ANSWER EVERY QUESTION
How to score
1. Enter the number you have circled for each question in the spaces below, putting the number you have circled to question A over line A, to question B over line B, etc.
2. Add the three scores on each line to get your totals. For example, the sum of your scores over lines A, G, and M gives you your score on Stimulation--lines B, H, and N give the score on Handling, etc.
Scores can vary from 3 to 15. Any score 11 or above is high; any score 7 or below is low.
What kind of smoker are you? What do you get out of smoking? What does it do for you? This test is designed to provide you with a score on each of six factors which describe many people's smoking behavior. Your smoking may be characterized by only one of these factors or by a combination of factors. In any event, this test will help you identify what you use smoking for and what kind of satisfaction you think you get from smoking.
The six factors measured by this test describe different ways of experiencing or managing certain kinds of feelings. Three of these
feelings-states represent the positive feelings people get from smoking: a sense of increased energy or stimulation; the satisfaction of handling or manipulating things; and the enhancing of pleasurable feelings accompanying a state of well-being. The fourth is the decreasing of negative feelings by reducing a state of tension or feelings of anxiety, anger, shame, etc. The fifth is a complex pattern of increasing and decreasing "craving" for a cigarette, representing a psychological addiction to smoking. The sixth is habit smoking, which takes place in an absence of feeling--purely automatic smoking.
A score of 11 or above on any factor indicates that this factor is an important source of satisfaction for you. The higher your score (15 is the highest), the more important a particular factor is in your smoking and the more useful the discussion of that factor can be in your efforts to quit.
A few words of warning: When you give up smoking, you may have to learn to get along without the satisfaction that smoking gives you.
Either that, or you will have to find some more acceptable way of getting this satisfaction. In either case, you need to know just what it is you get out of smoking before you can decide whether to forego the satisfactions it gives you or to find another way to achieve them.
1. Stimulation
If you score high or fairly high on this factor, it means that you are one of those smokers who is stimulated by the cigarette--you feel that it helps wake you up, organize your energies, and keep you going. If you try to give up smoking, you may want a safe substitute: a brisk walk or moderate exercise, for example, whenever you feel the urge to smoke.
2. Handling
Handling things can be satisfying, but there are many ways to keep your hands busy without lighting up or playing with a cigarette. Why not toy with a pen or pencil? Or try doodling. Or play with a coin, a piece of jewelry, or some other harmless object.
There are plastic cigarettes to play with, or you might even use a real cigarette if you can trust yourself not to light it.
3. Accentuation of pleasure--pleasurable relaxation
It is not always easy to find out whether you use the cigarette to feel good, that is, to get real pleasure out of smoking (factor 3) or to keep from feeling so bad (factor 4). About two-thirds of smokers score high or fairly high on accentuation of pleasure, and about half of those also score as high or higher on reduction of negative feelings.
Those who do get real pleasure out of smoking often find that an honest consideration of the harmful effects of their habit is enough to help them quit. They substitute eating, drinking, social activities, and physical activities--within reasonable bounds--and find they do not seriously miss their cigarettes.
4. Reduction of negative feelings or "crutch"
Many smokers use the cigarette as a kind of crutch in moments of stress or discomfort, and on occasion it may work; the cigarette is sometimes used as a tranquilizer. But the heavy smoker, the person who tries to handle severe personal problems by smoking many times a day, is apt to discover that cigarettes do not help him deal with his problems effectively.
When it comes to quitting, this kind of smoker may find it easy to stop when everything is going well, but may be tempted to start again in a time of crisis. Again, physical exertion, eating, drinking, or social activity--in moderation--may serve as useful substitutes for cigarettes, even in times of tension. The choice of a substitute depends on what will achieve the same effects without having any appreciable risk.
5. "Craving" or psychological addiction
Quitting smoking is difficult for the person who scores high on the factor of psychological addiction. For him, the craving for the next
cigarette begins to build up the moment he puts one out, so tapering off is not likely to work. He must go "cold turkey."
It may be helpful for him to smoke more than usual for a day or two, so that the taste for cigarettes is spoiled, and then isolate himself completely from cigarettes until the craving is gone. Giving up cigarettes may be so difficult and cause so much discomfort that, once he does quit, he will find it easy to resist the temptation to go back to smoking. Otherwise, he knows that some day he will have to go through the same agony again.
For the addicted smoker, seeing a doctor might provide extra motivation to stop. The doctor also may prescribe nicotine gum as an alternative source of nicotine while the smoker breaks the habit of smoking.
6. Habit
This kind of smoker is no longer getting much satisfaction from his cigarettes. He just lights them frequently without even realizing he is doing so. He may find it easy to quit and stay off if he can break the habit patterns he has built up. Cutting down gradually may be quite effective if there is a change in the way the cigarettes are smoked and the conditions under which they are smoked. The key to success is becoming aware of each cigarette you smoke. This can be done by asking yourself, "Do I really want this cigarette?" You may be surprised at how many you do not want.
Summary
If you do not score high on any of the six factors, chances are that you do not smoke very much or have not been smoking for very many years. If so, giving up smoking and staying off should be easy.
If you score high on several categories, you apparently get several kinds of satisfaction from smoking and will have to find several solutions. Certain combinations of scores may indicate that giving up smoking will be especially difficult. Those who score high on both factor 4 and factor 5, reduction of negative feelings and craving, may have a particularly hard time in going off smoking and in staying off. However, there are ways to do it; many smokers represented by this combination have been able to quit.
Others who score high on factors 1 and 5 may find it useful to change their patterns of smoking and cut down at the same time. They can try to smoke fewer cigarettes, smoke them only half-way down, use low-tar/nicotine cigarettes, and inhale less often and less deeply. After several months of this temporary solution, they may find it easier to stop completely.
You must make two important decisions: (1) whether to try to do without the satisfactions you get from smoking or find an appropriate, less hazardous substitute, and (2) whether to try to cut out cigarettes all at once or taper off.
Your scores should guide you in making both of these decisions.
NIH Publication No. 93-1822
