Nicotine Addiction / Tobacco Dependence

There is that one moment. The moment when you step outside, put the cigarette between your lips, bring the flame to the tip — and inhale. Deeply. More deeply than you have breathed all day. Your shoulders drop. Your chest opens. For three minutes you stand still. Nobody speaks to you. Nobody demands anything from you. You are alone with yourself and the smoke.

And that is precisely the point where you can begin to understand the symptom. Because if you look at it honestly, what is addictive about the cigarette is not the nicotine alone. It is this pause. This breathing. This stopping, which you do not otherwise allow yourself. The cigarette is the only occasion in the day when you take time for yourself without feeling guilty.