The Modification of Instinctive Behavior

For two days, Greg has resisted his urge to smoke. Having attempted to quit on more occasions than he can count, he’s determined not to let his extreme nervousness and irritability keep him from succeeding this time. His family tries to distract his thoughts from cigarettes, but these attempts work only temporarily. Anticipating tonight’s televised championship boxing match helped him for a while, but even this cannot prevent his recurrent, intense impulses to smoke. Greg began smoking cigarettes when he was 15. All his friends smoked, so it seemed like the natural thing to do. At first, he did not like to smoke; it made him cough and sometimes feel slightly nauseated. Greg smoked only with his friends to feel part of the group, and he pretended to inhale. However, as the unpleasant effects began to disappear, he learned to inhale and began to smoke more. By the age of 18, Greg smoked two to three packs of cigarettes each day. He never thought about stopping until he met Paula. A nonsmoker, she tried to convince him to quit. Finding himself unable to completely break his habit, he simply did not smoke while with Paula. After they married, Paula continued to plead with Greg to stop smoking. He has tried every now and then over the past 10 years to resist cigarettes, usually avoiding his habit for a day or two. This time has to be different. At age 35, Greg felt himself in perfect health, but a routine checkup with the family physician two days ago proved him wrong. Greg learned that his extremely high blood pressure makes him a prime candidate for a heart attack. The doctor told Greg that he must lower his blood pressure through special diet, medication, and not smoking. Continued smoking would undoubtedly interfere with the other treatments. The threat of a heart attack frightened Greg; he saw his father suffer the consequences of an attack several years ago. Determined now to quit, he only hopes he can endure his withdrawal symptoms.