Quit smoking NOW!
Time immemorial
Smoking has recreational, societal, religious and cultural affiliations. The initial reports of smoking fresh leaves of Nicotinia tabacum have been often connected with transcendence and self-realization. Employee health choices may reflect the health culture of organizations themselves. If workplaces can be responsible for promoting physical and behavioral health of employees, it is outshines ergonomics; and functions at an ethical and moral level.
Not so lesser of the evils
Contrary to popular belief, nicotine is highly addictive drug, at par with cocaine, heroin or brown sugar. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates over a billion smokers worldwide. Reports say that in the west, smoking is on the decline but in developing countries, it is steadily increasing. Frequently called the ‘gateway drug’ that introduces people to higher drugs like cocaine and heroin, it is also the crutch that people cling to while de-addicting themselves from these higher drugs. It’s an evil that goes unrecognized, although it’s harmful impact on the body and mind doesn’t. Employees. Laborers, workers at all levels frequently turn to nicotine in times of stress.
Faces of the culprit
Tobacco is the source of nicotine, obtained from the commonly grown plant Nicotina tabacum. Nicotine can be smoked as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. In developing countries like India, indigenous methods like burning the leaves in a small round chamber and inhalation of the smoke through a pipe (hookah) is common. Also, the dried tobacco leaves can be rolled into thin tubes called beedis, which are smoked directly. The percentage of nicotine entering the body from all these methods remains the same; however, the cancer producing hydrocarbons are higher in pipes, hookahs, and beedis since these toxins are not filtered.
How it performs its act
Nicotine, the alkaloid in tobacco, is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream within 15 seconds of inhalation and activates the dopamine neurotransmitter in the reward system of the brain to produce a rush, which is what the individual craves in its absence. As long as brain levels of nicotine are maintained, there are no complaints. As soon as the levels of nicotine start to fall, there is agitation, irritability, restlessness, and anxiety until the time the person smokes another cigarette. As compared to other drugs of abuse, smoking is inexpensive, socially sanctioned, and readily available; this makes it a bigger addiction.
MINDFRAMES: Reframing workplaces
We offer group and individualized programs to enhance awareness of the psycho social aspects of smoking besides expressing the damaging physical complications through our interactive and existential workshops. We have been conducting such programs since over a decade in different corporate sectors and have seen an overwhelming improvement in lifestyles of people at as well as out of the workplace. These programs are a subset of the lifestyle management workshops that are custom made for corporates.