Why 'ex-smokers' relapse
Smoking less but better
New findings published in the Journal of Substance Use suggest that many ex-smokers experience quitting as a ‘loss’, according to a story in news-medical.net.
The findings, based on research at the University of East Anglia, indicate too that smokers who [believe they] have quit often relapse because they want to recapture a sense of lost social identity.
“Although many people do manage to quit, relapse is very common,” lead researcher, Dr. Caitlin Notley, was quoted as saying.
The research team was said to have studied in-depth interviews with people who had quit and relapsed. Forty-three participants described their history of smoking and previous quit attempts, their current quit attempt, and discussed any smoking relapses. The researchers then studied further 23 of the participants who provided the most detailed information about relapsing to smoking.
“What we have found is that relapse is associated with a whole range of emotional triggers'” Notley said. “It is often tied up with people wanting to recapture a lost social identity – their smoker identity.
“People want to feel part of a social group, and recover a sense of who they are – with smoking having been part of their identity, for most, since their teenage years.