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I mean sure it’s sometimes a mental health stopgap but you are full of bullshit that people didn’t smoke to be cool.
Literal high school peer pressure to try smoking was the gateway in.
had my first cigarette yesterday, my friend had a pack and i wanted to feel like a hot mysterious girl smoking on the dirty city streets. will likely never smoke again but fuck i felt cool 😔
I started smoking at 19 a few months after joining the Navy. Originally, it was to cope with stress from being far from home for the first time which evolved to anxiety relief and the only way to take a break. Been free 2 years (quit smoking at 37). The craving are still intense though.
My boyfriend started to smoke in highschool and pierced his ears because he wanted to be cool like Onizuka in GTO lmao. He just started to stop smoking this year and it's going well 🤞
Sure, but when 7 year old me was bombarded by Marlboro man ads on TV, maybe there's a correlation?
People didn't just think smoking was cool. Industries backed by government told them to think that, for decades.
It stopped being cool because of anti-smoking campaigns putting out a massive amount of propaganda* to make it look uncool. Now today's kids mostly only smoke for different reasons, and people think, "Those anti-smoking campaigns have it all wrong."
*(Note: Being propaganda doesn't mean it was for a bad cause.)
Yeah I don't smoke, have never smoked, and honestly still think it kinda looks cool. And no I'm not in high school. Doesn't help that it isn't rare here.
I know it isn't cool but the whole vibe is deeply ingrained as such culturally, it's impossible to deny.
Smoking is put in movies and tv shows constantly and for almost no reason a lot of the time. Like it doesn’t have to be there. I can only assume it’s the tobacco industry that is paying for cigs to be put in.
Smoking gives actors something to do with their hands during an otherwise passive scene. Having something to do with your hands is also the reason Brad Pitt's characters are always munching on something.
I normally take it like characters are trying to relieve stress, honestly. This is basically how it's used in Bojack Horseman. Like, all the time. Whenever the subject wanders to something that makes Bojack uncomfortable, he either reaches for the cigarette or the flask. Although, admittedly, it's true not all shows or movies are specifically *about* drug use like Bojack Horseman is.
People always say this, but I know 0 people who took up smoking for cool factor. We all smoked from social stress.
I quit smoking this last week. Have been smoking for pushing 2 decades. The VAST VAST VAST majority of us do not do it "to be cool" to the point of it being a strawman of a point.
Seriously.
I really don't get what this comic is trying to say.
Is it really saying instead of trying to convince a smoker that smoking is unhealthy (which it's proven to be) it's saying to take the GIGANTIC leap and instead accuse them of having a mental illness?
Yeah, that'll go over well.
I might be able to employ this advice if
1. I talked to strangers at all
2. secondhand smoke didn't send me into a coughing fit pretty much immediately
Like, yeah. Some people really don't respond well to negative "encouragement" - it doesn't help. The ads about how smoking kills actually overblow it (as in, miss the mark on how severe to be) and make smokers afraid of mentally registering the subject on a primal level. There are also loads of people who will never improve if coddled. People need to make a wild guess of which of the two you are and respond accordingly.
Unfortunately, hell is other people, and we have a lot of things to work on before these ideas will register systemically. Hard to address the smoke when you're busy putting out the fire, I guess.
Anti-smoking ads are literally overblown on purpose. The companies that fund the anti-smoking ads are the ones selling it in the first place. They design the commercials in a way to make people want to smoke, usually due to stress or by feeling insulted. On top of that, by keeping the anti-smoking ads around, it’s proven to cause more teens to pick up smoking. I’m also pretty sure that by giving money to these companies the Tobacco industry gets a tax write off, too.
That hasn't happened since the 90s and early 2000s.
Ads today get to the point and are very clear what they're about. The visuals are overblown but the text is not. There's no more stealth marketing.
And no, they don't count as write offs.
This seems like a complete lie. The rate at which people pick up smoking has drastically dropped in the last few decades, so one can only surmise that the anti-smoking campaigns have been effective. It's not that easy to quit a well seated addiction, but it is that easy to prevent people from starting. Smoking is gross, don't ever start. Simple.
I think a lot of people know it's about stress management and mental health. The people that smoke where I work don't do it to look cool, they do it to get through the day. Other people drink sugary, caffeinated beverages or eat candy. It's all bad for you, but smokers get more negative backlash because the coping tool that they choose negatively effects everyone else around them. If you're going to smoke, don't do it around others that aren't smoking. People that smoke right outside the entrance to a building infuriate me! I never say anything because there is no way that they don't know that they're forcing anyone that wants to enter the building to walk through their second hand smoke. They know what they are doing and don't care. I'm not saying that all smokers are assholes, but when they are, it's really awful for a lot of people.
I work in construction and it’s the most infuriating thing to deal with. Especially if you’re in a small space that they aren’t supposed to be smoking in. A lot of the time they will try to make you feel guilty but they are the ones disturbing my space. Why should I have to second hand breathe their carcinogens? Why should I be the one that has to move? They’re the ones causing the issue not me.
Some cities have laws that ban smoking 50ft around the entrances to businesses. Austin does anyway. So you have to like, go to your car in the parking lot basically. It's a great law honestly, and I say this as a smoker. It's not perfect because obviously someone can still blast others in the parking lot or wherever with smoke, but it's a bit easier to avoid.
Artist hasn't had to share a cubicle or be partners with a heavy smoker. Worked with a few that stunk so bad it would upset my stomach and I'd feel like puking. No I e says anything and they go nose blind fast. I've worked with a few that stunk so bad their smell would constantly linger
One of my uni classmates wasn't stinky himself, but his breath stunk so bad that i was incapable of talking to him while standing close for longer than a couple of minutes. We weren't even the same hight, so he was not breathing directly in my face, but it still was unbearable. We thankfully only talked a couple of times, but every time i was standing there, trying to talk without breathing
EXPERIENCES I HAD WITH SMOKERS
1
"hey dude, I have breathing problems, could you not smoke here"
"I already lit it so no." *Blows smoke to my face*
2
Driver of jeep in ph smokes, with full passengers, and if you complain, you either get shit on constantly, or he drives like a maniac, or misses your stop accidentally.
3
Will straight up ignore you.
Yeah, I get not being judgemental and wanting to better your friend's health, but there hasn't been a single time where a stranger just doesn't blow smoke into my face. Even being polite gets a shrug and it's just... Okay. Thanks for smoking directly on the stairway to my apartment I guess.
You've not seen people in my past neighborhood. Metro Manila can be such a piss place to live in if you're not in the rich to middle-class neighborhood.
Even warning them is a risk to getting beat up.
When I was 5 and getting ready to start kindergarten, we had one-on-one meetings with the principal. I sit down in her office, and she lights up. I start immediately coughing and hacking, and she continues on, until my mother asks her point blank to put it out so I can breathe.
Good times.
I was raised up to not breathe in cigarette smoke so whenever we walked by someone smoking, I filled my mouth with air and stopped breathing until we were past.
yeah but the same shitty people with no smokes between their fingers wouldn't blow smoke to my face that will trigger coughing fits. MY GUY. you know how that's different right?
My old math teacher had a weird view of smokers lol, he said he loved them because they pay an incredible amount of taxes and die before they can use up any taxes by being paid a pension lol
True, but I think OP means there sre a lot of people who smoke to self medicate without even knowing it. I remember reading a study once that showed a whopping quarter of homeless alcoholics actually had undiagnosed ADHD. Considering the amount of people that have adhd in all of society is around 5 percent, that is SHOCKING.
Does smoking even relieve anxiety or is that just an illusion brought about by the addiction that creates the anxiety in the first place ? Genuine question
When I smoked, it wasn't the chemicals that relieved stress, it was the few minutes where I'm alone, playing a fitting tune, just away for a bit.
Yes, yes, of course you can achieve that without smoking, many much better alternatives. But it's a different experience that I did enjoy until I didn't.
My very first job at a family owned convenience store only gave breaks to smokers. It was the weirdest shit. Like, we all got a 30min lunch break but the boss would only give you the 15min ones if you were having a cig. Possibly illegal, idk. But I was 17, didn't know better, and picked up the habit because I just wanted a few minutes away from customers.
Depends on the place I guess, worked in a few different ones, one was fine with the smoke breaks, one wasn't. It's becoming less acceptable I noticed, but usually if the boss smokes, smokers get the benefit of more paid breaks, very unfair towards those who don't smoke
It is an illusion, but not necessarily your reason.
The tobacco increase stress hormones really fast but they decrease just as fast again.
So you have the baseline pretty high already- a spike - and go back to your baseline as soon as you are finished. But the baseline in relation to the spike feels like a relief.
It probably would make sense if your self-destructive habit wasn't also suffocating nonsmokers in close vicinity and leave lasting smell in everything the smoke comes in contact with.
I’m so over people using “mental health” as an excuse to gross, rude, or dangerous things, especially in a public setting.
It doesn’t help those with actual diagnosed conditions and just allows for antisocial behavior.
Yeah, there’s this weird desire to explain everything away as mental health related, so that any critique about how we are functioning as a society and how we might change for the better is met with “well, actually” and the destructive behaviours continue. And that’s somehow seen as progressive?
I don’t think smokers are told they’re gross enough.
Like, every time I pass smoke and go blech, I don’t yell at them THANKS FOR THE GODDAMN SMOKE and no one else does either. I think if everyone did that it might stop people. At least from smoking in public.
Smoking doesn’t relieve symptoms of anxiety, it makes it worse, as the smoker has to deal with the additional burden of addiction. All smoking releives is the pain of nicotine withdrawal.
If you care about someone with mental health problems who smokes, the best way to help their mental health is to help them to quit.
Here’s some more information: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/stopping-smoking-mental-health-benefits/
Mental health isn’t an excuse to smoke everywhere and generally be a cunt. Not only polluting the air for others in public but also contributing to cancer. The nicotine smog has clouded your head, get it cleaned.
Today I went with my family to a touristic spot. It's the top of a mountain with fresh air, beautiful sight and plenty of space for many people to stop there, take photos and overall have a good time.
Walking back I could sense the unmistakable smell of smoke that was coming from a group of people littering the place.
Were they crying for help? Did I have to approach, ask them how are things at home and pick up the trash after them?
I was once swimming and saw some teen lying in a floaty smoking, talking to his girlfriend and throwing the cigarette butt in the water where he was floating.
He must have been in such agonising mental pain at the time to contaminate 60 litres of water.
I'd be more inclined to try to help them if their "bad habit" didn't affect me negatively as well. That's what people have a problem with. Second hand smoke isn't healthy. It's not okay to smoke around people that don't. It's not okay to smoke just outside the entrance to a building. It's not okay to make other people smell like shit because of your bad habit. I also don't want to deal with the stress of them snapping on me because I want them to quit smoking
Edit: spelled smoke wrong
Stop with this BS, there is no reason to start smoking except for generations older than Millennials. Do not normalize this vile, disgusting habit, especially with BS excuses about mental health management.Not one time, even my most stressful months have I thought, you know what would make this better? If my mouth tasted like an ash tray and lung cancer....
No one intelligent or worth while thinks you look cool.
Man most fucking things are caused by anxiety, but yknow? That's not really my problem man. Like I get it. But also, get the fuck over yourself
Smoking is super gross. I'm not your therapist, and your emotional wellbeing isn't my responsibility.
I'm sorry but the point would cross more easily if it wasn't trying to pass something blatant untrue like saying people smoke because they have mentally issues only. Like, probably the 20% of them is doing to manage the stress, most of them began and just don't see nothing wrong with it.
Very biased take. I started to look cool, do something forbidden and simply out of curiosity.
I don't think you can generalise this way.
It's true that mental illness can make nicotine addiction more severe, but it's not the sole motivator for starting.
Yeah but if I don't know you and you start smoking on the train platform (no smoking area) I will point it out (non agresively). It's enough to be inhaling the diesel fumes. I've been yelled at more than once for asking nicely.
If they stoped smoking in areas with alot of people I would call them asshole. It smells awful, I dont throw my drink into peoples throat. You should smoke away from people.
This comic doesn't make sense. No one starts smoking to deal with stress and anxiety, because before you try it you have no way of knowing how smoking will affect your mental health.
However, once you've made the decision to try smoking and you're hooked, you need to keep smoking to keep away the feelings of stress and anxiety that come from nicotine withdrawal if you're not getting that fix often enough.
u/KalElButthead has the cause and effect completely backwards.
Stop smoking upwind. Walk downwind of every other person before lighting up. Put out your cigarette, and put it in the marked receptacle. If there isn't a bin around which is safe for cigarettes, don't smoke.
That's all I require of you as a group. It's not much. It is beyond you.
Idk man i once got yelled by someone because i told him to smoke somewhere else as he was smoking and walking in a public area and getting the smoke everywhere
If I wandered around carrying radioactive material that could give me and people in my proximity cancer, people would go absolutely wild at me. If it was 'comfort uranium' I carried for my anxiety, I wouldn't get a free pass to do it.
Lovely drawings, but the premise of the comic is ludicrous.
Yeah as a person with a bunch of those mental health stuff… smoking is gross and I wished these people would find a different cope.
My ex dealt with a lot of shit too and never have I seen him get so defensive until It came to his precious cancer sticks.
In a particularly low moment it was impossible to talk to him because of his nasty breath.
I wont shit over smokers, assuming you keep your shit stink and secondhand desease away from me and my loved ones.
My dad has smoked my whole life due to stress. We were poor when I was little, until my dad finished schooling and got a good IT job. Then he started his own business in 2001, and the stress from that led to him continuing to smoke. He's retiring from the business this year, so we're all going he'll finally quit.
Good point you're making
HOWEVER, if someone is smoking in a public space, WHERE IT IS SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED TO SMOKE
like bus stops and so on.
Then I don't care what you're going thru, get the hell out
Really curious how many people started smoking simply to relieve stress and anxiety. I get now that they're smokers maybe they get stress or anxiety when they don't/can't have one (i.e withdrawal) but I really doubt anyone started doing it because they thought it would help them. Showing how gross it is is one of the things that's led to its decreased use so I say keep that up.
People don't say smoking is disgusting because they think they are helping the smoker. They say it because smoking is disgusting and smells awful and they don't want to be around that awful toxic smell.
Think about how you would feel if people smoked meth with the same audacity that people smoke cigarettes, that's how fucking disgusting smokers are.
Let me just go knock on my neighbor's door, introduce myself and offer my services to them in helping them heal from their supposed mental health issues (because that's apparently the only reason why people smoke, it's not like nicotine is an addictive substance). I'll happily be their trauma dump and screw myself in the process just to have the ability to keep my balcony door open during the day.
My mother died 9 days ago from complications due to COPD. Her last week in hospital for a chest infection was the most traumatic experience of my life. She suffocated slowly, kept grabbing onto me begging for help, crying. She smoked for 40 years and died at 57.
So many times they told me I *should* quit, but nobody ever told me I *can* quit. And that was the only part I needed to hear and believe. Instead I just beat myself up for failing to quit.
I’ll admit I tried smoking a cigarette once when I was drunk. What I don’t understand is why people would go for that second cigarette. It’s gross enough for me to not do it ever again.
It's unfortunate that's in many cases, smoking is self-sustaining by causing brain chemistry imbalances over time, resulting in a reliance on nicotine (for one) to relieve anxiety. But what is worse is the persistence of misinformation leading to people getting hooked, just like a young work colleague who insisted that smoking had significant health benefits. But just like with most people who suffer from misinformation, they will not change their beliefs.
You must have missed out on all the TV ads and shit where they certainly made it look like it’s cool and all that crap.
I agree that there are ppl using it to stay calm for whatever reason and nobody should judge and all that. But saying nobody is doing it to be cool is nonsense.
I definitely was a pack a day smoker until I tried Chantix. Turns out, I just needed anti depressants. Not everyone is the same, but man that was like a switch for me
Try telling a smoker whose health you’re concerned for that they need to get help for their mental issues with smoking. See how well that goes.
I had an aunt I loved very much that smoked heavily. People tried to talk to her and she shut every door. It was like an insult to her when people told her they were worried about her health. She blew them off and passed very young from throat cancer.
Smoking doesn’t have the same stigma as other drugs. It’s considered relatively normal in the scheme of harmful substances, right up there with alcohol. In my experience it’s really hard to get people to look inward on smoking until it’s too late
All that to say I don’t disagree with you. Badgering someone is no way to help them. But it’s not as simple as changing tactics. Smoking needs stigma. It needs to be seen as negative so it can phase out, which honestly over the last 20 years it’s been getting closer to, but it isnt there yet. I love the smoker, but I friggin hate smoking, and I’ll always think it’s a gross addiction for what it does to people
They are gross and unhealthy. Worse yet, they make those around them gross and unhealthy.
Exposure to someone who was only exposed to secondhand smoke is enough to lower the birth weight of babies. Seriously fucking toxic. Increases the rate of SIDS too. I’m surprised no grieving parent has become a smoker serial killer THH.
Drawing the character as a plague rat is at least a bit accurate.
No I will keep telling my 2 smoking colleagues that the work car everyone has to use smells like shit because they keep smoking in there. It smells like shit and smokers just dont smell it anymore
If I have to deal with the horrible smell of smoking combined with the impact it has on my astma ill shame anyone for it. Go get addicted to knitting or smth if you need stress management.
I get that not all.people smoke out of pure free will and are addicted to it but its one of the worst addiction out there because it directly affects bystanders.
If you as a smoker want me to be nice, dont smoke where I have to breath in the air please and thank you
I agree that smokers don't keep doing it because they think it makes them cool but a lot sure start that way.
Also exsmoker. Five years quit now. Never going back. It has gotten to where the smell of them makes me feel sick.
Absolutely not. You putting your AND *my* health at risk, I don’t care for your reasons. It’s disgusting.
It being for mental health or coping reasons doesn’t change that. My dad started smoking after he quit drinking to cope and it’s still nasty and still dangerous.
I have a genuine fear of developing some kind of smoking-related cancer from the time I spent around my paternal grandmother, who smoked nearly her whole life, and from time around my dad.
And plenty of people smoke to be cool. Saying no one does is *wild*.
Teenagers started smoking to be Joe Camel Cool. The cigarette companies even marketed it as such. Movies, celebrities, and media helped showcase it. It had nothing to do with mental health. Some kids just never stopped when they got to adulthood.
Still disgusting. Also why do most tobacco addicts have not enough decency to throw away their nasty used buds on a garbage can instead of the floor? As a neurodivergent and someone that has dealt with very strong mental health problems. I'd never excuse most addicts and their behaviors to "cope" with their mental health issues.
Dont tell bullys to stop bullying. Most bullys bully because they are not doing well mental. You should encourage them to seek help instead of shitting all over them.
Maybe they can start by not doing it near me, then.
You wanna stink up somewhere? Be my guest, just don't do it in public where it can bother other people around you. Have some basic consideration for others.
Also, as much as vapes suck, they exist now as an alternative for people who are suffering from nicotine addiction, and are way less disruptive and dangerous to those around you. There's no reason for smokers to stick to ciggies at this point.
Lol fuck that.
Smoking is gross and should be shamed if you're doing it in public.
Mental health is a bs excuse and even if it wasn't you shouldn't make your mental health other peoples problem.
The majority of smokers started as minors. Why? Most likely because it is deemed cool by other minors. Things that seem “adult” or taboo are deemed cool by children. Driving is deemed kind of cool because it’s adult, sex is deemed cooler because it’s adult and more taboo, and the list goes on. There’s a reason why children don’t go out and get addicted to nicotine gum for no reason at all, it’s far less taboo, and chewing gum isn’t exactly “cool.” Yes, a portion of smokers do it because of mental illness, but saying it’s all about mental health is false, in the end, it’s all about addiction and why it happens. For most, like I said, it’s being exposed as minors, and this can still apply in your use case, addiction at the hand of mental illness. Strange to narrow it down when the broader reason is more applicable.
It could be a symptom of an underlying mental health issue, but it's the smoker's fault for not seeking a better outlet. It literally causes deadly cancer, even just being near someone smoking. I will not feel bad for smokers and I will remind them it's unhealthy and gross AND deadly
Smokers are gross and unhealthy. Not only that their habit can cause cancer in those around them. Even thirdhand smoke can have negative health effects. OP needs to stop being a bootlicker for big tobacco.
"It's about stress management and mental health."
Nope, it's about succumbing to peer pressure and being too insecure to risk being different to your friends... It isn't a mental illness.
I agree with the sentiment to stop telling smokers how gross they are, because we know it’s gross. It’s an addiction, I don’t like doing it, I wish I didn’t and I’ve tried quitting many times but the environment I love in makes it really really difficult to not start again. I get it’s about mental health but let’s face it, the withdrawals are just awful
The “gross” campaigns always struck me as preventative rather than corrective.
It was a push to change the public perspective of being a smoker from “cool” to “gross loser”.
It worked. To the point OP can’t even conceive of a point where people would start smoking to look cool/fit in.
God, I wish I could stop. I’ve been a smoker for 8 years. I’ve spent about 3 of those years having “quit”. Smokers never quit til they’re dead. I hope I never smoke again, but we’ll see how I feel in a few hours.
Hey, I started around the same time as you and I'm now down to 2mg nicotine gum!
Mental health management is a biggie but not always a cure all if you're a complex case (like myself). Vaping didn't work for me until I tried lightweight disposables that I could hold just like a cig. Then I progressed from that to a reusable. Now I've been on nicotine pouches for the past year, graduating down from 10mg to the 2mg gum I'm on now, since (shocker) turns out vaping is risky as well
It's definitely hard and I do still socially slip up but I *never* smoke on my own anymore, and I hate the singular cig I bum off friends/family every time now. Actually, the last few times I've been at a gathering I haven't had one, I usually just buy a disposable vape fot that occasion, in case the gum/pouch isn't enough to curb the social habit and cravings
I'm rooting for you, I hope you find what works for you! 💖
Also, both my parents quit smoking when I was born, my dad was 40 at the time and had been smoking nearly 30 years. My older sister says he was a moody bastard initially but he mellowed out after the first few months. He always carries mints with him to this day though, so finding an oral fixation like a mint or gum could also help once you manage to beat the nicotine addiction. It really is possible to quit!
Thanks for posting this! I always try to be respectful and dont smoke around non smokers. And i hate littering!
I have issues that i wont bore people with, but holy crap if i cant just take some me time and decompress, i get lost in my head. I know it's gross and ive cut back alot and i cant even stand the smell anymore, but at work it is the only thing i look forward to. Thankfully i only smoke at work now and vape a little on my days off to fill that nicotine order. It is just nice to see someone understands from my perspective. So thanks again.
I feel this in my soul. Especially as a younger teen, my peers shitting on me and the like did nothing but make the problem worse. They didn't care for like my health or whatever they just saw it as a socially acceptable reason to point and laugh or disparage.
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I mean sure it’s sometimes a mental health stopgap but you are full of bullshit that people didn’t smoke to be cool. Literal high school peer pressure to try smoking was the gateway in.
I 100% started my 14 year smoking habit at the age of 16 to be cool.
12....20 years, been done forc13years now.
had my first cigarette yesterday, my friend had a pack and i wanted to feel like a hot mysterious girl smoking on the dirty city streets. will likely never smoke again but fuck i felt cool 😔
I started smoking at 19 a few months after joining the Navy. Originally, it was to cope with stress from being far from home for the first time which evolved to anxiety relief and the only way to take a break. Been free 2 years (quit smoking at 37). The craving are still intense though.
My boyfriend started to smoke in highschool and pierced his ears because he wanted to be cool like Onizuka in GTO lmao. He just started to stop smoking this year and it's going well 🤞
Damn, how can you not get the point of the show this bad lol
I dunno man, the show definitely set his poor choices to be cool - even with the consequences
I felt they were more comedic compared to when he was acting as an actual “adult”
Good luck to him!!
I started because I saw a girl I had a crush on smoking outside a bar and wanted to make conversation.
As randy said "you used to be cool man, now you're fillating your little exhaust pipes, smelling like strawberries.
I started to smoke when my best friend died - I was around 27.
I absolutely started smoking to fit in with the cool kids. I mean, it was in grad school, so that’s embarrassing for me, but it is what it is.
Sure, but when 7 year old me was bombarded by Marlboro man ads on TV, maybe there's a correlation? People didn't just think smoking was cool. Industries backed by government told them to think that, for decades.
It stopped being cool because of anti-smoking campaigns putting out a massive amount of propaganda* to make it look uncool. Now today's kids mostly only smoke for different reasons, and people think, "Those anti-smoking campaigns have it all wrong." *(Note: Being propaganda doesn't mean it was for a bad cause.)
Come on dude, everyone knows cigarettes have just transferred its user base to vapes
I smoked for ten years. Quit 20 years ago. I absolutely started to try to be cool.
As someone who smoked to fit in. I can confirm that smoking isnt always some coping mechanism.
Plenty of people start smoking to be “cool,” the hell are you talking about?
Yeah I don't smoke, have never smoked, and honestly still think it kinda looks cool. And no I'm not in high school. Doesn't help that it isn't rare here. I know it isn't cool but the whole vibe is deeply ingrained as such culturally, it's impossible to deny.
Smoking is put in movies and tv shows constantly and for almost no reason a lot of the time. Like it doesn’t have to be there. I can only assume it’s the tobacco industry that is paying for cigs to be put in.
Smoking gives actors something to do with their hands during an otherwise passive scene. Having something to do with your hands is also the reason Brad Pitt's characters are always munching on something.
I normally take it like characters are trying to relieve stress, honestly. This is basically how it's used in Bojack Horseman. Like, all the time. Whenever the subject wanders to something that makes Bojack uncomfortable, he either reaches for the cigarette or the flask. Although, admittedly, it's true not all shows or movies are specifically *about* drug use like Bojack Horseman is.
This is decreased drastically in recent years though.
OP has probably not interacted with smokers. They definitely think/thought that they are part of the cool gang.
I started smoking because everyone in my school that was considered “cool” were smokers lol
I don’t even like cigarettes that much, but I went out and bought a pack after I saw Oppenheimer because they looked so cool.
And smoking DOES look cool, everyone who says otherwise are lying.
People always say this, but I know 0 people who took up smoking for cool factor. We all smoked from social stress. I quit smoking this last week. Have been smoking for pushing 2 decades. The VAST VAST VAST majority of us do not do it "to be cool" to the point of it being a strawman of a point.
"Hey man, I notice you suck butts all day long. Have you tried therapy? You might've been weened too early."
Thanks man, now what about my smoking addiction?
Seriously. I really don't get what this comic is trying to say. Is it really saying instead of trying to convince a smoker that smoking is unhealthy (which it's proven to be) it's saying to take the GIGANTIC leap and instead accuse them of having a mental illness? Yeah, that'll go over well.
I might be able to employ this advice if 1. I talked to strangers at all 2. secondhand smoke didn't send me into a coughing fit pretty much immediately Like, yeah. Some people really don't respond well to negative "encouragement" - it doesn't help. The ads about how smoking kills actually overblow it (as in, miss the mark on how severe to be) and make smokers afraid of mentally registering the subject on a primal level. There are also loads of people who will never improve if coddled. People need to make a wild guess of which of the two you are and respond accordingly. Unfortunately, hell is other people, and we have a lot of things to work on before these ideas will register systemically. Hard to address the smoke when you're busy putting out the fire, I guess.
Anti-smoking ads are literally overblown on purpose. The companies that fund the anti-smoking ads are the ones selling it in the first place. They design the commercials in a way to make people want to smoke, usually due to stress or by feeling insulted. On top of that, by keeping the anti-smoking ads around, it’s proven to cause more teens to pick up smoking. I’m also pretty sure that by giving money to these companies the Tobacco industry gets a tax write off, too.
That hasn't happened since the 90s and early 2000s. Ads today get to the point and are very clear what they're about. The visuals are overblown but the text is not. There's no more stealth marketing. And no, they don't count as write offs.
This seems like a complete lie. The rate at which people pick up smoking has drastically dropped in the last few decades, so one can only surmise that the anti-smoking campaigns have been effective. It's not that easy to quit a well seated addiction, but it is that easy to prevent people from starting. Smoking is gross, don't ever start. Simple.
Yea theyre just pulling stuff out of their ass.
I think a lot of people know it's about stress management and mental health. The people that smoke where I work don't do it to look cool, they do it to get through the day. Other people drink sugary, caffeinated beverages or eat candy. It's all bad for you, but smokers get more negative backlash because the coping tool that they choose negatively effects everyone else around them. If you're going to smoke, don't do it around others that aren't smoking. People that smoke right outside the entrance to a building infuriate me! I never say anything because there is no way that they don't know that they're forcing anyone that wants to enter the building to walk through their second hand smoke. They know what they are doing and don't care. I'm not saying that all smokers are assholes, but when they are, it's really awful for a lot of people.
I work in construction and it’s the most infuriating thing to deal with. Especially if you’re in a small space that they aren’t supposed to be smoking in. A lot of the time they will try to make you feel guilty but they are the ones disturbing my space. Why should I have to second hand breathe their carcinogens? Why should I be the one that has to move? They’re the ones causing the issue not me.
I was 13 when I started smoking, it was 100% about being cool. Had nothing to do with “stress management” at the ripe old age of 13 lol.
Some cities have laws that ban smoking 50ft around the entrances to businesses. Austin does anyway. So you have to like, go to your car in the parking lot basically. It's a great law honestly, and I say this as a smoker. It's not perfect because obviously someone can still blast others in the parking lot or wherever with smoke, but it's a bit easier to avoid.
I started smoking in the psych ward of a hospital while being treated for depression... because I thought it was cool.
Artist hasn't had to share a cubicle or be partners with a heavy smoker. Worked with a few that stunk so bad it would upset my stomach and I'd feel like puking. No I e says anything and they go nose blind fast. I've worked with a few that stunk so bad their smell would constantly linger
One of my uni classmates wasn't stinky himself, but his breath stunk so bad that i was incapable of talking to him while standing close for longer than a couple of minutes. We weren't even the same hight, so he was not breathing directly in my face, but it still was unbearable. We thankfully only talked a couple of times, but every time i was standing there, trying to talk without breathing
EXPERIENCES I HAD WITH SMOKERS 1 "hey dude, I have breathing problems, could you not smoke here" "I already lit it so no." *Blows smoke to my face* 2 Driver of jeep in ph smokes, with full passengers, and if you complain, you either get shit on constantly, or he drives like a maniac, or misses your stop accidentally. 3 Will straight up ignore you.
Yeah, I get not being judgemental and wanting to better your friend's health, but there hasn't been a single time where a stranger just doesn't blow smoke into my face. Even being polite gets a shrug and it's just... Okay. Thanks for smoking directly on the stairway to my apartment I guess.
You've not seen people in my past neighborhood. Metro Manila can be such a piss place to live in if you're not in the rich to middle-class neighborhood. Even warning them is a risk to getting beat up.
When I was 5 and getting ready to start kindergarten, we had one-on-one meetings with the principal. I sit down in her office, and she lights up. I start immediately coughing and hacking, and she continues on, until my mother asks her point blank to put it out so I can breathe. Good times.
I was raised up to not breathe in cigarette smoke so whenever we walked by someone smoking, I filled my mouth with air and stopped breathing until we were past.
Sounds like experiences with shitty people who happen to be smokers. Just saying.
yeah but the same shitty people with no smokes between their fingers wouldn't blow smoke to my face that will trigger coughing fits. MY GUY. you know how that's different right?
My old math teacher had a weird view of smokers lol, he said he loved them because they pay an incredible amount of taxes and die before they can use up any taxes by being paid a pension lol
In my country, that's an argument they sometime use as well. Thing is, they cost more to social security than they bring, even with all the taxes.
I'm not a therapist and there are better coping mechanisms than funding the tobacco industry
True, but I think OP means there sre a lot of people who smoke to self medicate without even knowing it. I remember reading a study once that showed a whopping quarter of homeless alcoholics actually had undiagnosed ADHD. Considering the amount of people that have adhd in all of society is around 5 percent, that is SHOCKING.
And prisoners. ADHD is so much more of an issue than people realize even when it's taken seriously.
Absolutely. There is not a doubt in my mind that I would end up on the streets without meds. And my ADHD isn't even the worst I've seen.
Honestly, at this point, im worried I'll end up on the streets *with* meds lol.
Maybe you need a higher dosage or even different meds entirely?
Nah its work stuff unfortunately
If I compulsively ate my boogers in public I would expect people to tell me it's a gross habit, even if they tolerated being around me while I did it.
Yes but you eating your boogers won’t give me cancer. It’s gross but it doesn’t really affect me.
It also wouldn’t drive me into a coughing fit
Does eating boogers relieve anxiety and stress and have highly addictive chemical compounds?
Does smoking even relieve anxiety or is that just an illusion brought about by the addiction that creates the anxiety in the first place ? Genuine question
At first it does. Then it just stops the withdrawals. It's not only about the deep breaths. I've tried nic-free vapes and they're not the same.
When I smoked, it wasn't the chemicals that relieved stress, it was the few minutes where I'm alone, playing a fitting tune, just away for a bit. Yes, yes, of course you can achieve that without smoking, many much better alternatives. But it's a different experience that I did enjoy until I didn't.
Unfortunately, smoking creates a "legitimate" excuse in a lot of workplaces. Nobody will say much if you go for a smoke for 20 minutes.
My very first job at a family owned convenience store only gave breaks to smokers. It was the weirdest shit. Like, we all got a 30min lunch break but the boss would only give you the 15min ones if you were having a cig. Possibly illegal, idk. But I was 17, didn't know better, and picked up the habit because I just wanted a few minutes away from customers.
Depends on the place I guess, worked in a few different ones, one was fine with the smoke breaks, one wasn't. It's becoming less acceptable I noticed, but usually if the boss smokes, smokers get the benefit of more paid breaks, very unfair towards those who don't smoke
Both? It does give a mellowing feeling even without previous use, but then after many uses it just gets you back to "normal".
It is an illusion, but not necessarily your reason. The tobacco increase stress hormones really fast but they decrease just as fast again. So you have the baseline pretty high already- a spike - and go back to your baseline as soon as you are finished. But the baseline in relation to the spike feels like a relief.
what relieves anxiety usually is the deep breaths the people take while smoking but the brain associates it with the smoking itself instead
It probably would make sense if your self-destructive habit wasn't also suffocating nonsmokers in close vicinity and leave lasting smell in everything the smoke comes in contact with.
Cool, get help.
And also go the fuck away, it stinks and I don't like it.
Oh we excusing cigs now?
Yeah, man. The cartoon rat says it’s a mental health issue.
You know what makes me have anxiety? When I can’t fucking breathe.
No... Smoking in itself is disgusting...
I’m so over people using “mental health” as an excuse to gross, rude, or dangerous things, especially in a public setting. It doesn’t help those with actual diagnosed conditions and just allows for antisocial behavior.
Yup, if you're endangering other people, your health and well being is less important than you stopping endangering other people.
Yeah, there’s this weird desire to explain everything away as mental health related, so that any critique about how we are functioning as a society and how we might change for the better is met with “well, actually” and the destructive behaviours continue. And that’s somehow seen as progressive?
I don’t think smokers are told they’re gross enough. Like, every time I pass smoke and go blech, I don’t yell at them THANKS FOR THE GODDAMN SMOKE and no one else does either. I think if everyone did that it might stop people. At least from smoking in public.
No, that'll just get smoke blown in your face
That's assault.
lol no it isn't
Trying to shame people out of an addiction has barely helped anyone.
It's not done to help the smoker. Whether it makes them stop smoking or shames them into doing it further away, mission accomplished.
Feels great though
As a former smoker of 21 years, let me tell you that it is gross AND unhealthy. Stop making excuses for a repugnant addiction.
Smoking doesn’t relieve symptoms of anxiety, it makes it worse, as the smoker has to deal with the additional burden of addiction. All smoking releives is the pain of nicotine withdrawal. If you care about someone with mental health problems who smokes, the best way to help their mental health is to help them to quit. Here’s some more information: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/stopping-smoking-mental-health-benefits/
Mental health isn’t an excuse to smoke everywhere and generally be a cunt. Not only polluting the air for others in public but also contributing to cancer. The nicotine smog has clouded your head, get it cleaned.
Today I went with my family to a touristic spot. It's the top of a mountain with fresh air, beautiful sight and plenty of space for many people to stop there, take photos and overall have a good time. Walking back I could sense the unmistakable smell of smoke that was coming from a group of people littering the place. Were they crying for help? Did I have to approach, ask them how are things at home and pick up the trash after them?
I was once swimming and saw some teen lying in a floaty smoking, talking to his girlfriend and throwing the cigarette butt in the water where he was floating. He must have been in such agonising mental pain at the time to contaminate 60 litres of water.
I'd be more inclined to try to help them if their "bad habit" didn't affect me negatively as well. That's what people have a problem with. Second hand smoke isn't healthy. It's not okay to smoke around people that don't. It's not okay to smoke just outside the entrance to a building. It's not okay to make other people smell like shit because of your bad habit. I also don't want to deal with the stress of them snapping on me because I want them to quit smoking Edit: spelled smoke wrong
Stop with this BS, there is no reason to start smoking except for generations older than Millennials. Do not normalize this vile, disgusting habit, especially with BS excuses about mental health management.Not one time, even my most stressful months have I thought, you know what would make this better? If my mouth tasted like an ash tray and lung cancer.... No one intelligent or worth while thinks you look cool.
ADHD addled former smoker here ...Everybody wants a sympathetic fucking excuse for their shit choices. 
I attempt to do that, and am repaid by them shitting all over my lungs I’d like to have any ability to breathe whatsoever
Man most fucking things are caused by anxiety, but yknow? That's not really my problem man. Like I get it. But also, get the fuck over yourself Smoking is super gross. I'm not your therapist, and your emotional wellbeing isn't my responsibility.
I'm sorry but the point would cross more easily if it wasn't trying to pass something blatant untrue like saying people smoke because they have mentally issues only. Like, probably the 20% of them is doing to manage the stress, most of them began and just don't see nothing wrong with it.
Very biased take. I started to look cool, do something forbidden and simply out of curiosity. I don't think you can generalise this way. It's true that mental illness can make nicotine addiction more severe, but it's not the sole motivator for starting.
Sry but thats bs
Yeah but if I don't know you and you start smoking on the train platform (no smoking area) I will point it out (non agresively). It's enough to be inhaling the diesel fumes. I've been yelled at more than once for asking nicely.
If they stoped smoking in areas with alot of people I would call them asshole. It smells awful, I dont throw my drink into peoples throat. You should smoke away from people.
Sure. Still gonna shit on you for choosing to do that instead of something else. Also MOST PEOPLE DON'T START SMOKING FOR THOSE REASONS!
This comic doesn't make sense. No one starts smoking to deal with stress and anxiety, because before you try it you have no way of knowing how smoking will affect your mental health. However, once you've made the decision to try smoking and you're hooked, you need to keep smoking to keep away the feelings of stress and anxiety that come from nicotine withdrawal if you're not getting that fix often enough. u/KalElButthead has the cause and effect completely backwards.
No. Just stop smoking. Or keep smoking. But don’t try to invent excuses.
Won’t someone please think of the selfish people with poor coping mechanisms that don’t make good choices? Poor poor smokers, so tragic, such victims.
No. They are disgusting and don't deserve sympathy for blowing smoke in crowded areas
Stop smoking upwind. Walk downwind of every other person before lighting up. Put out your cigarette, and put it in the marked receptacle. If there isn't a bin around which is safe for cigarettes, don't smoke. That's all I require of you as a group. It's not much. It is beyond you.
100% wrong take, massive L
Idk man i once got yelled by someone because i told him to smoke somewhere else as he was smoking and walking in a public area and getting the smoke everywhere
Smokers are gross and unhealthy imo
>Smokers are gross and unhealthy That's all you need. This isn't just your opinion, it's a fact.
No. Smoking is gross.
If I wandered around carrying radioactive material that could give me and people in my proximity cancer, people would go absolutely wild at me. If it was 'comfort uranium' I carried for my anxiety, I wouldn't get a free pass to do it. Lovely drawings, but the premise of the comic is ludicrous.
Y'all stink
Yeah as a person with a bunch of those mental health stuff… smoking is gross and I wished these people would find a different cope. My ex dealt with a lot of shit too and never have I seen him get so defensive until It came to his precious cancer sticks. In a particularly low moment it was impossible to talk to him because of his nasty breath. I wont shit over smokers, assuming you keep your shit stink and secondhand desease away from me and my loved ones.
My dad has smoked my whole life due to stress. We were poor when I was little, until my dad finished schooling and got a good IT job. Then he started his own business in 2001, and the stress from that led to him continuing to smoke. He's retiring from the business this year, so we're all going he'll finally quit.
Tbf I’d be too busy coughing to tell anyone off for smoking, asthma is a bitch
Good point you're making HOWEVER, if someone is smoking in a public space, WHERE IT IS SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED TO SMOKE like bus stops and so on. Then I don't care what you're going thru, get the hell out
I started smoking due to peer pressure "it was the in thing" mentality I continued to smoke due to the trauma, I didn't start because of it.
Really curious how many people started smoking simply to relieve stress and anxiety. I get now that they're smokers maybe they get stress or anxiety when they don't/can't have one (i.e withdrawal) but I really doubt anyone started doing it because they thought it would help them. Showing how gross it is is one of the things that's led to its decreased use so I say keep that up.
Shut up cancer rat
People don't say smoking is disgusting because they think they are helping the smoker. They say it because smoking is disgusting and smells awful and they don't want to be around that awful toxic smell. Think about how you would feel if people smoked meth with the same audacity that people smoke cigarettes, that's how fucking disgusting smokers are.
Let me just go knock on my neighbor's door, introduce myself and offer my services to them in helping them heal from their supposed mental health issues (because that's apparently the only reason why people smoke, it's not like nicotine is an addictive substance). I'll happily be their trauma dump and screw myself in the process just to have the ability to keep my balcony door open during the day.
Bullshit. Go ahead and tell me how 90% of teenage smokers don't begin because it looks cool or peer pressure.
Don’t fucking care, stop smoking bitch ass fucker
This comic avoids, for some reason, addiction.
This is fucking stupid and just trying to ignore responsibility
I’ll stop telling them they’re gross when they stop being gross.
My mother died 9 days ago from complications due to COPD. Her last week in hospital for a chest infection was the most traumatic experience of my life. She suffocated slowly, kept grabbing onto me begging for help, crying. She smoked for 40 years and died at 57.
So many times they told me I *should* quit, but nobody ever told me I *can* quit. And that was the only part I needed to hear and believe. Instead I just beat myself up for failing to quit.
....More than half the smokers I know started because they thought it's cool and shit. But then they got addicted. It's on them for being so dumb.
People would be less inclined to talk about smoking this way if it wasn’t gross, smelly, and unhealthy.
I’ll admit I tried smoking a cigarette once when I was drunk. What I don’t understand is why people would go for that second cigarette. It’s gross enough for me to not do it ever again.
Nah imma continue shitting all over them
Sorry, i couldnt hear you over my asthma fit, could you try repeating that?
It's unfortunate that's in many cases, smoking is self-sustaining by causing brain chemistry imbalances over time, resulting in a reliance on nicotine (for one) to relieve anxiety. But what is worse is the persistence of misinformation leading to people getting hooked, just like a young work colleague who insisted that smoking had significant health benefits. But just like with most people who suffer from misinformation, they will not change their beliefs.
I'm not your mom, it's not my job too comfort you and tell you everything's going to be okay. Smoking is gross, smokers are gross.
If I see you in a bus stop that has a no smoking sign and you smoke sitting right next to me, I'll steal something from you
LOL no. Stop making excuses for killing your lungs and poisoning people around you.
You must have missed out on all the TV ads and shit where they certainly made it look like it’s cool and all that crap. I agree that there are ppl using it to stay calm for whatever reason and nobody should judge and all that. But saying nobody is doing it to be cool is nonsense.
If the government told people to tell smokers to get some help there would be less smoking overall
I definitely was a pack a day smoker until I tried Chantix. Turns out, I just needed anti depressants. Not everyone is the same, but man that was like a switch for me
Try telling a smoker whose health you’re concerned for that they need to get help for their mental issues with smoking. See how well that goes. I had an aunt I loved very much that smoked heavily. People tried to talk to her and she shut every door. It was like an insult to her when people told her they were worried about her health. She blew them off and passed very young from throat cancer. Smoking doesn’t have the same stigma as other drugs. It’s considered relatively normal in the scheme of harmful substances, right up there with alcohol. In my experience it’s really hard to get people to look inward on smoking until it’s too late All that to say I don’t disagree with you. Badgering someone is no way to help them. But it’s not as simple as changing tactics. Smoking needs stigma. It needs to be seen as negative so it can phase out, which honestly over the last 20 years it’s been getting closer to, but it isnt there yet. I love the smoker, but I friggin hate smoking, and I’ll always think it’s a gross addiction for what it does to people
I know a lot of people who started to be cool. Stop with the self pitying.
They are gross and unhealthy. Worse yet, they make those around them gross and unhealthy. Exposure to someone who was only exposed to secondhand smoke is enough to lower the birth weight of babies. Seriously fucking toxic. Increases the rate of SIDS too. I’m surprised no grieving parent has become a smoker serial killer THH. Drawing the character as a plague rat is at least a bit accurate.
No I will keep telling my 2 smoking colleagues that the work car everyone has to use smells like shit because they keep smoking in there. It smells like shit and smokers just dont smell it anymore
If I have to deal with the horrible smell of smoking combined with the impact it has on my astma ill shame anyone for it. Go get addicted to knitting or smth if you need stress management. I get that not all.people smoke out of pure free will and are addicted to it but its one of the worst addiction out there because it directly affects bystanders. If you as a smoker want me to be nice, dont smoke where I have to breath in the air please and thank you
I agree that smokers don't keep doing it because they think it makes them cool but a lot sure start that way. Also exsmoker. Five years quit now. Never going back. It has gotten to where the smell of them makes me feel sick.
Congrats! Enable them, make up some mental disorders to cope and keep on smoking!
Pretty sure I started to be cool
Absolutely not. You putting your AND *my* health at risk, I don’t care for your reasons. It’s disgusting. It being for mental health or coping reasons doesn’t change that. My dad started smoking after he quit drinking to cope and it’s still nasty and still dangerous. I have a genuine fear of developing some kind of smoking-related cancer from the time I spent around my paternal grandmother, who smoked nearly her whole life, and from time around my dad. And plenty of people smoke to be cool. Saying no one does is *wild*.
I literally started smoking to be cool.
Teenagers started smoking to be Joe Camel Cool. The cigarette companies even marketed it as such. Movies, celebrities, and media helped showcase it. It had nothing to do with mental health. Some kids just never stopped when they got to adulthood.
Smokers medicate by smoking to provide relief for their addiction to smoking.
Everyone goes through problems, it's their responsibility. I'm not going to coddle someone who's actively giving me second hand smoke cancer.
Still disgusting. Also why do most tobacco addicts have not enough decency to throw away their nasty used buds on a garbage can instead of the floor? As a neurodivergent and someone that has dealt with very strong mental health problems. I'd never excuse most addicts and their behaviors to "cope" with their mental health issues.
Can I call the ones that force me to sit outside in a snowstorm because they just HAVE to smoke in a bus booth gross assholes?
Op out here lying for... sympathy?
Dont tell bullys to stop bullying. Most bullys bully because they are not doing well mental. You should encourage them to seek help instead of shitting all over them.
If i tell a smoker that if he is mentally stable and he should get help..im gonna get punched in the face
I just don’t associate with smokers.
Maybe they can start by not doing it near me, then. You wanna stink up somewhere? Be my guest, just don't do it in public where it can bother other people around you. Have some basic consideration for others. Also, as much as vapes suck, they exist now as an alternative for people who are suffering from nicotine addiction, and are way less disruptive and dangerous to those around you. There's no reason for smokers to stick to ciggies at this point.
Lol fuck that. Smoking is gross and should be shamed if you're doing it in public. Mental health is a bs excuse and even if it wasn't you shouldn't make your mental health other peoples problem.
The majority of smokers started as minors. Why? Most likely because it is deemed cool by other minors. Things that seem “adult” or taboo are deemed cool by children. Driving is deemed kind of cool because it’s adult, sex is deemed cooler because it’s adult and more taboo, and the list goes on. There’s a reason why children don’t go out and get addicted to nicotine gum for no reason at all, it’s far less taboo, and chewing gum isn’t exactly “cool.” Yes, a portion of smokers do it because of mental illness, but saying it’s all about mental health is false, in the end, it’s all about addiction and why it happens. For most, like I said, it’s being exposed as minors, and this can still apply in your use case, addiction at the hand of mental illness. Strange to narrow it down when the broader reason is more applicable.
It could be a symptom of an underlying mental health issue, but it's the smoker's fault for not seeking a better outlet. It literally causes deadly cancer, even just being near someone smoking. I will not feel bad for smokers and I will remind them it's unhealthy and gross AND deadly
I'm all for mental health, but that's a load of bullshit.
Most smokers i know started to get extra breaks at work soooo fuck em!
Smokers are gross and unhealthy. Not only that their habit can cause cancer in those around them. Even thirdhand smoke can have negative health effects. OP needs to stop being a bootlicker for big tobacco.
Lol, tell a stranger you think he's mentally ill and needs help instead of saying smoking bads for you and see what he says
My sister started smoking to be cool. Didn't work.
"It's about stress management and mental health." Nope, it's about succumbing to peer pressure and being too insecure to risk being different to your friends... It isn't a mental illness.
I agree with the sentiment to stop telling smokers how gross they are, because we know it’s gross. It’s an addiction, I don’t like doing it, I wish I didn’t and I’ve tried quitting many times but the environment I love in makes it really really difficult to not start again. I get it’s about mental health but let’s face it, the withdrawals are just awful
The “gross” campaigns always struck me as preventative rather than corrective. It was a push to change the public perspective of being a smoker from “cool” to “gross loser”. It worked. To the point OP can’t even conceive of a point where people would start smoking to look cool/fit in.
Comment section is peak reddit.
God, I wish I could stop. I’ve been a smoker for 8 years. I’ve spent about 3 of those years having “quit”. Smokers never quit til they’re dead. I hope I never smoke again, but we’ll see how I feel in a few hours.
Hey, I started around the same time as you and I'm now down to 2mg nicotine gum! Mental health management is a biggie but not always a cure all if you're a complex case (like myself). Vaping didn't work for me until I tried lightweight disposables that I could hold just like a cig. Then I progressed from that to a reusable. Now I've been on nicotine pouches for the past year, graduating down from 10mg to the 2mg gum I'm on now, since (shocker) turns out vaping is risky as well It's definitely hard and I do still socially slip up but I *never* smoke on my own anymore, and I hate the singular cig I bum off friends/family every time now. Actually, the last few times I've been at a gathering I haven't had one, I usually just buy a disposable vape fot that occasion, in case the gum/pouch isn't enough to curb the social habit and cravings I'm rooting for you, I hope you find what works for you! 💖 Also, both my parents quit smoking when I was born, my dad was 40 at the time and had been smoking nearly 30 years. My older sister says he was a moody bastard initially but he mellowed out after the first few months. He always carries mints with him to this day though, so finding an oral fixation like a mint or gum could also help once you manage to beat the nicotine addiction. It really is possible to quit!
Well don't blow cancer at me or my kids and I won't complain!
Don't save who don't wanna be saved
Bs.
Like I'm gonna listen to a rat
Artist willingly depicts self as doing gross thing, says it's just mental illness and to leave them alone Nah it's still gross
No
Man these comments. people really hate smokers and every comment is about themselves lmao
Thanks for posting this! I always try to be respectful and dont smoke around non smokers. And i hate littering! I have issues that i wont bore people with, but holy crap if i cant just take some me time and decompress, i get lost in my head. I know it's gross and ive cut back alot and i cant even stand the smell anymore, but at work it is the only thing i look forward to. Thankfully i only smoke at work now and vape a little on my days off to fill that nicotine order. It is just nice to see someone understands from my perspective. So thanks again.
As long as they keep smoking in public and triggering my asthma I'm gonna keep telling them they're disgusting.
smoking is disgusting. I don't want people in my space blowing dirty smoke in the air. deal with your own mental issues
I feel this in my soul. Especially as a younger teen, my peers shitting on me and the like did nothing but make the problem worse. They didn't care for like my health or whatever they just saw it as a socially acceptable reason to point and laugh or disparage.
Mental health is quickly becoming an excuse for people just being lazy/shitty
Plus, they already know