What’s the Score?
| Total points | Level of dependence to nicotine |
| 0 - 3 | low Mild physical dependence. May benefit from counseling. May not need smoking cessation aids. |
| 4 - 6 | medium Counseling can be very helpful with moderate dependence. Cessation aids also may be of use to some people. |
| 7 - 10 | high Strong physical dependence. Counseling and use of smoking cessation aids are encouraged. |
Above is the scoring from the Fagerstrom nicotine addiction test that was in yesterday’s post.
What Your Score Means:
0-3 points - low
Come on! You’re not hooked on nicotine. But you are hooked on thumbing your nose at society. (Has a psychiatrist ever used the word sociopath when describing you?) Quit your job, buy a guitar and a VW van, and head out on the highway, lookin’ for adventure. At that point, when smoking cigarettes is no longer an act of defiance, kicking the habit will be no problemo.
4-6 points - medium
At work you’re an emphatic nonsmoker. Out for an evening with friends, you’re the classic cigarette moocher, puffing away on bummed cigarettes. You’re straddling the fence, all right–a lot like a certain Democratic Party presidential hopeful. At some point, you’ll fall right off. I hope you don’t land on the side with the cow pies.
7-10 points - high
Your ashtray is on your bedside table. The last thing you do before sleeping is have a cigarette. If you don’t wake up during the night, you light your next smoke before you get out of bed in the morning. (You’ve become skilled at inhaling around the hacking and hawking that also are part of your morning routine.)You need to find a doctor and hospital that will strap you to a bed and place you in a controlled coma for several weeks. When you’re released, begin smoking cessation counseling and use all smoking cessation aids 24/7 until you’re too sick to think of smoking.
March 5th, 2007 03:28
The controlled coma sounds attractive - they do it for long term opiate addicts.
Get over the worst of the withdrawal, then work on our thinking and behavior patterns. Brilliant! Where do I sign up?
Wish I’d never picked up the first cigarette or at least disliked it enough not to pick up the second.
Go girl; stick to your quit!