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Smoking is a hard habit to break. Most smokers, if not all, know this to be true. Despite being associated with different negative health effects, many individuals continue to consume cigarettes on a regular basis. There are many reasons why people engage into smoking, and as a result, many of them also suffer the negative consequences.
One of the reasons why people start smoking is due to curiosity. This is true for many teenagers. Most of them are curious about how it feels to smoke, especially when they are seeing family members and peers carry out the habit. They may think that they will only try it once without knowing that they may actually be hooked to it eventually.
Aside from curiosity, some people, both young and old, start smoking because of peer pressure. For teenagers, peer pressure is quite common. For example, a person may have friends in school or at work who smoke, and in order to feel that he/she belongs to the group, he/she may adapt the same habit of smoking.
Another reason why a person may start smoking is due to media influence. Different characters (actors and actresses) in the movie or TV programs are continuously being shown as smokers, and these influence the audience. For instance, famous actors, such as Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, have portrayed strong masculine characters who smoke. As a result, those who look up to these actors or those who want themselves to look as cool and as masculine as the them may also revert to smoking thinking that doing so will improve their image.
Once smoking starts, it may lead to addiction due to nicotine. Nicotine is a powerful component of cigarettes. It tricks the brain by causing smokers to feel good after smoking; thus, it makes them want to smoke again and again. This good feeling results to relaxation as well. Sometimes, when smokers feel stressed or tired, they smoke to ease the tension. This is one of the reasons why the smoking cycle goes on and on.
Because of the different causes of smoking, many people suffer the negative consequences. These negative consequences include health problems and financial problems.
It is a fact that smoking can negatively impact one’s health. For instance, it has been associated with the prevalence of lung cancer, and it also contributes to other types of cancer, such as larynx and mouth cancer. It may also affect cardiovascular health, elevating the risk of plaque build-up and heart attack. Worse, the health of non-smokers may also be impacted due to second-hand smoke.
Because of the seriousness of the associated diseases, people who smoke are also most likely to suffer from financial problems because of treatments and medications. For those who do not get sick but are highly addicted to smoking, they spend enormous amounts of money just to buy cigarettes and should they decide to seek help to overcome addiction, they will also need to spend money to seek professional assistance for therapy.
Overall, the causes and effects of smoking have been explored by experts over the years. It is not a secret that curiosity, peer pressure, and media influence are some of the reasons why a person may start smoking. Despite this, many individuals still fall on the same trap of smoking. Unfortunately, this habit leads to negative health consequences, not only for the smokers but also to those around them. Furthermore, it may impact their finances in many ways. These effects are enough reasons to avoid or stay away from the causes of smoking.
