It has been determined time and again that smoking is a dangerous vice. However, some people defend the vice by saying that it cannot be compared to doing hard drugs or drinking alcohol. Those who support the vice are either ignorant of its negative impact because the impact is not as visual as that of alcohol (getting high). Another reason is that they want to feel better about the fact that they may be ruining their lives. For this reason, millions of people still maintain the habit despite the known negative impact of smoking on their health and well-being. In this post, we discuss how smoking would affect your daily life.
Impacts of Smoking on Health
Some of the negative health consequences of smoking include;
- It causes different forms of cancer like cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, uterus, bladder, stomach and pancreases
- It also causes respiratory diseases like cancer and difficulty in breathing
- It influences fertility negatively
- It causes heart diseases like heart attack and smoke
- Smoking during pregnancy affects the development of the fetus
Impacts of Smoking on Well-being
- Finances
Like using other forms of drugs, smoking is quite an expensive habit. Being a smoker, it means you have to incorporate the smoking cost into your daily expenses. For example, high prices are greatly influenced by the fact that most smokers use one or two packets in a day. The cost is also still exceptionally high, even if you smoke less than a pack per day. This can, therefore, hinder you from using your money to do better things.
- Cravings
Smokers do suffer from cravings because the drug content in cigarettes is addictive same as other hard drugs. Cravings lead to a lot of stress, especially if you are not in a position to smoke. For instance, in a building or area where the habit is not tolerated in that setting. The urge to smoke can result in concentration loss, stress, agitation, recklessness, and anger, to name a few.
- Appearance
As much as most smokers do not like to admit to this fact, smoking significantly affects your appearance. Beginners may not suffer this impact. However, the more you maintain the habit, the more the alterations in your appearance occur. For instance, smoking causes symptoms of aging like sagging, wrinkles, and facial likes. It also darkens the lips and, in severe cases, causes hair loss.
- Strained Relationships
Smoking affects not only the user but those around them as well. As people become more aware of the dangers of being a secondary smoker, they tend to keep away from smokers. The fact that it causes wastage of money, aggressive behavior, and has a smell that people do not enjoy is also a factor that pushes people away. Smoking can, therefore, cause strained relationships with friends and family. This is mostly true for those who do not smoke.
Conclusion
It is challenging to derail people from the habit of smoking mostly because it is highly addictive. However, creating awareness of the side effects of the habit is a stepping stone to helping addicts find help.
