Why People Lie that They Are Not Smoking Anymore?

I was browsing the web yesterday and I found a discussion, where a young woman was asking, why his husband is telling her that he has not started smoking again, when she knows that it is not the truth. She had found empty cigarette packs from the pockets of his husband’s jacket and noticed that his hands are sometimes smelling for cigarettes. When she asked his husband about this, he got angry and denied everything. This young woman was naturally confused and she was wondering, if her husband has got other secrets as well.

I think that her reaction was natural, but I got the impression that she did not understand that smoking is caused by Nicotine addiction. And as we all know, addicts do what they do, because they have a need to dose addictive substances to their bodies. In this particular case, the man was using cigarettes as a source of Nicotine. Since I have got the same problem than he does, I think that I can understand his motives better. I have also been in the same situation than this man several times. I too have lied to my close ones. And now I am going to describe you the reasons, why addicts act this way, when they get caught.

When addicts get caught, they get angry, because they are feeling guilty. Usually the people, who care about the smoker, are very happy when they find out that he is trying to quit smoking. Some of them might even be proud of him, and most of them will support him any way they can. If the attempt to stop smoking fails, smoker often feels that he has let all those people down. However, that is not the reason, why smokers are feeling guilty.

It is very common that smokers try to hide the fact that they have failed in their attempt to stop smoking. They are trying to avoid getting caught by smoking in places, where it is not likely to bump into a person, who knows that they have quit smoking. If a smoker is not a dishonest person (and this is often the case), it is only natural that he feels guilty about lying. I know that this sounds a bit contradictory, but I will explain next, why addicts feel that they have to lie.

Addicts lie, because they are ashamed. I know from experience that stopping smoking will make you feel great. It will improve your self esteem and make you feel better in every aspect of your life. The best thing about it is that you are finally feeling free. You feel that you are no longer a slave of cigarettes. All these great things disappear instantly, when a person starts to smoke again.

It is a horrible feeling and I believe that only a person, who has experienced it can understand, how bad it really feels. The worst thing about it is that you are worried, what your close ones will think about you, when they find out that you have started smoking again. You are already blaming yourself, because you did not have what it takes to quit. You are probably feeling that your closed ones will judge you as well. In this situation, it is much more easier to lie.

I hope that you now understand a little bit better, why addicts behave like they do, when they get caught. Even though I think that people should be honest with each other, the situation is not so black and white, when you are suffering from an addiction. I am not trying to say that it is all right to lie about your addiction (actually I feel that it is wrong), but I just had a need to explain the feelings, which makes an addict act this way.