As a child I touched a hot burner on the stove, and haven't touched one since that dreadful and painful day. If the practice of unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or over eating produced immediate pain, our societal problems of excessive medical expenses resulting from emphysema patients" frequent and prolonged hospitalizations, increased motor vehicle fatalities from drunk drivers, or problems with cardiovascular disease would be diminished or non-existent. This would be an ideal paradigm of any culture; however, sensibly, pain may be a long-term affect from such habits with the exception of cases of angina, pain caused secondary to lack of blood-supply to the myocardium. It is true that we learn from experience. However, it is verifiably truthful that physical pain creates a lasting imprint in ones consciousness.
I"m cognizant of the facts and dangers of cigarette smoking, and I also know that I will die sooner than that of a non-smoker. Smoking exacerbates my anxiety given that I"m aware that smoking kills. Yet, I continue to smoke as though, physiologically, my body desires it. Although, I"m not convinced my addiction to nicotine is solely physiological. I"m searcher deeper within my own rational convictions to, objectively, question and entertain the idea of a neurotransmitter chemical imbalance. This problematizes me. So, I"m convincing myself that I may have a chemical imbalance. Subjectively, I question how this can be true? I lived a perfectly healthy and normal life before I started the habit. I not saying that my life is abnormal; nonetheless, I am perplexed of the idea of abnormality. I was not born with a cigarette in my mouth. This thought of having a chemical imbalance increases my anxiety because it seems to separate me from the norm. The mere fact that I am thinking that I"m different or that I don't meet up to the social standards affects my breathing rate and heart rate.
