Science. Business. Society.
Vol. 9 (2024), Issue 2, pg(s) 72-75

SOCIETY

Emotional Illusions and Smoking: A Novel Psychological Perspective on Nicotine Addiction

  • 1 Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, smoking is one of the greatest threats to public health. In Bulgaria, this threat is particularly acute, as the country has the highest percentage of smokers and the highest mortality rate due to tobacco use among EU member states. Despite the well-documented health and financial detriments, the question of why people continue to smoke remains partially unresolved. This article proposes a novel psychological theory suggesting that the mild nicotine abstinent symptoms, combined with the initially unpleasant taste of cigarette smoke, create the perfect conditions for the emergence of “emotional illusions.” Emotional illusions, extensively studied in literature, occur when an unconscious external stimulus elicits an emotion, leading the brain to construct an illusory cause for the emotion. In the context of smoking, it is not boredom, nervousness, or stress that triggers the desire to smoke, but rather the mild withdrawal symptoms that the brain misinterprets as these states. The article concludes with preliminary empirical data supporting this hypothesis.

Keywords

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