Well, as a treatment it's generally viewed as relatively safe, though it's not been used for this sort of thing to the best of my knowledge (mostly just to reduce blood pressure for a lengthy period in an attempt to help people with brain damage recover). It'd probably cost an arm and a leg though. Consider how much anesthesia costs, now extend that out over a prolonged period, with the associated costs of observation and maintenance.
The Official Harley Spencer Discussion Thread! (AMA)
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Well, as a treatment it's generally viewed as relatively safe, though it's not been used for this sort of thing to the best of my knowledge (mostly just to reduce blood pressure for a lengthy period in an attempt to help people with brain damage recover). It'd probably cost an arm and a leg though. Consider how much anesthesia costs, now extend that out over a prolonged period, with the associated costs of observation and maintenance.
Harley Spencer
Official Checked Star Member
Yeah, I know. I was just kidding. It'd be super expensive. Plus I don't have the kind of time to spare to go in a coma for a long time. Too much stuff to do with my life, can't waste it on sleep.
I kinda knew you were kidding
. I was just speaking generally about the viability of the idea, since there are a lot of potentially fatal habits/addictions out there. Seems like something worth exploring, and something that sounds relatively safe... just expensive. I'm thinking that's probably why the medical community doesn't seem to have explored it more, because they tend to be financially driven and there isn't likely to be a profit made there, even if it could potentially save some lives. Seriously? That can't have lasted more than a month, right? I think I was a pack a day within a couple weeks of starting, and I've generally always been 2+ while drinking.
Elwood70
Torn & Frayed.
It lasted longer, but more than likely because I was still in high school, still living at home and my parents didn't know.....yet.
Ah, that would explain it. Yeah, I started in high school too, but personally I just went for a lot of "walks".
Harley Spencer
Official Checked Star Member
A pack used to last me 4 days when I first started, and that went on for like... 6 months or something. I started when I was 17, so it was difficult to obtain cigarettes, and my mom found out shortly after I started. Eventually she was the one buying cigarettes for me. I think she used it to her advantage, offering to buy me a pack of smokes if I'd stay home and not go party for a night, but that didn't work out so well. I was a bad kid, and ended up going out anyway.
God I hate myself for putting her through that.
God I hate myself for putting her through that.
Never had that problem. Being about six feet tall with a beard in grade four kinda made issues with ID and like incredibly rare for me.
I think most kids rebel. I did. My brother didn't, but he's broken in different (and perhaps stranger) ways than I am. My sister did, but managed to never get caught. That left me as the only "bad child" (at least as far as anyone knew... apparently I should have been watching my sister more closely and taking notes).
I have this weird thing with smoking. I love it. I would do it constantly, but I know how bad it is for me. So I get a pack about once or twice a year, smoke them, and don't miss them when they are gone.
I'd love it if they weren't bad for me, though.
I'd love it if they weren't bad for me, though.
Harley Spencer
Official Checked Star Member
Same. I was probably the worst of the bunch, but was basically treated like I was the only bad kid. My siblings definitely did some naughty things, but somehow they weren't reprimanded like I was and I was treated differently. My step brother was constantly bringing girls home, going to school events, going to visit friends, leading a very active and social lifestyle. He was allowed to have girls stay over and sleep in his room with him. My step sister played this goody-two-shoes role, which was a complete facade, and thus got away with everything. She'd get to stay over with friends, go out for entire weekends, go on vacations with friends, and once she even confided in me on how to sneak around and make up this story to our parents so that she could spend a weekend in a cabin alone with her boyfriend. My sister had a long time boyfriend, they dated pretty much all throughout high school, and she was allowed to sleep over at his house on weekends.
Me? God forbid should I ever have a boy over. When I lost my virginity, I was grounded. When my step sister lost hers, no one found out about it except me because I borrowed one of her Cosmo magazines and found a used condom hidden between the pages. And we all knew that both my step brother and sister were sexually active.
So since I was treated differently, I had to sneak around more, which of course worked against me since that made me look even worse, when in reality I wasn't doing anything different than my siblings, it just seemed like I was bad.
I think we'd all love that.
Congrats on being able to only smoke once or twice a year. That's admirable that you're able to just do it rarely without becoming addicted.
Huh. Did they ever give you a reason for why you were being treated differently? I mean, I more or less knew (I was the only one getting caught so... yeah) and still I felt it was basically bullshit, which probably had me rebel even more just out of spite over it.
vodkazvictim
Why save the world, when you can rule it?
I like a cigar every now and then.
Harley Spencer
Official Checked Star Member
No reason really. I think they're still in denial about everything, they don't see it as them treating me differently in general, but more like me being a bad, rebellious kid who always gets into trouble so they had to watch out for me. I was pretty bad as a kid before I was a teen, and really.... I don't really know how to describe it. I was very sexual. I think I discovered sex before I was 10, and I was really curious about it, and I made a habit of looking at my stepdad's playboy magazines, looking through my mom's nude art books and stuff, drawing naked women, stuff like that, and I discovered masturbation very early on, probably around the same age, and they caught me a few times, so I think they had this idea in their head that I would get myself into trouble sexually. So... they tried to keep tabs on me at all times and restrict me more than they did the others. Maybe that's why.
Stinky!
EDIT: Well I guess I don't have much room to talk, huh? Cigarettes are pretty stinky. But cigars are so much stronger.
Hmm, that sounds a lot like me. Well, except I never got caught abusing myself (hmm, maybe once by my brother... not sure if he saw what was going on though :1orglaugh).
You're the youngest, aren't you? I'm sure that wouldn't help things either. I think parents tend to feel a need to "protect" their youngest from the world.
Cheap cigars smell like horseshit. A fine cigar though can be quite nice. Well, unless you have a severe aversion to smoke in general. I know people who hate the smell of cigarettes who will literally go out of their way to be near someone smoking a good cigar.
Regardless, stinky is subjective. I could actually go for some secondhand right about now.
vodkazvictim
Why save the world, when you can rule it?
[B][URL="https://www.freeones.com/harley-spencer said:
Twice a year aint so bad.
Hey, page 40!
Not sure if it's bad or not, but it's not surprising. The sense of smell is one of the most powerful memory triggers, especially when it comes to particularly emotional ones, because the element of the brain that processes smell is part of the limbic system, which also deals with memories and feelings.
Not sure if it's bad or not, but it's not surprising. The sense of smell is one of the most powerful memory triggers, especially when it comes to particularly emotional ones, because the element of the brain that processes smell is part of the limbic system, which also deals with memories and feelings.
Harley Spencer
Official Checked Star Member
Hmm, that sounds a lot like me. Well, except I never got caught abusing myself (hmm, maybe once by my brother... not sure if he saw what was going on though :1orglaugh).
You're the youngest, aren't you? I'm sure that wouldn't help things either. I think parents tend to feel a need to "protect" their youngest from the world.
Cheap cigars smell like horseshit. A fine cigar though can be quite nice. Well, unless you have a severe aversion to smoke in general. I know people who hate the smell of cigarettes who will literally go out of their way to be near someone smoking a good cigar.
Regardless, stinky is subjective. I could actually go for some secondhand right about now.
Right? People assume that the youngest gets to do whatever they want, that the youngest child is the most loved and spoiled. Bull. Fucking. SHIT.
Want some secondhand smoke? Come on over.
Nah. There's certain smokey car smells that trigger pleasant memories of my dad. It wasn't just the smoke, there was another smell too, but I can't pin point it. Maybe it's coffee and cigarettes and a touch of aftershave, cuz not all smokey cars smell the same. Also tic tacs remind me of my dad.
Oh, it's probably worth noting that the limbic system also controls some aspects of behavior. So if the smell of smoke triggers fond memories it's perhaps not surprising that you're a smoker yourself.
Actually, there have been some behavior modification experiments using unpleasant smells for aversion therapy. Never really seen much data on how that panned out. Might be worth trying though as a potential method to help quitting smoking. I mean, all you'd need is something that smells terrible that you could sniff every time you have a cigarette. So, it'd be cheap, easy and risk-free... so even if it doesn't help, well Hell, it's not like you had to invest much in the attempt. :dunno:
Mm. I was the youngest as well, and that was pretty much my experience.
:1orglaugh Maybe some other time. Though if you wanted to exhale it all into a plastic bag and mail me the bag I could huff that for awhile!
Actually, there have been some behavior modification experiments using unpleasant smells for aversion therapy. Never really seen much data on how that panned out. Might be worth trying though as a potential method to help quitting smoking. I mean, all you'd need is something that smells terrible that you could sniff every time you have a cigarette. So, it'd be cheap, easy and risk-free... so even if it doesn't help, well Hell, it's not like you had to invest much in the attempt. :dunno:
Mm. I was the youngest as well, and that was pretty much my experience.
:1orglaugh Maybe some other time. Though if you wanted to exhale it all into a plastic bag and mail me the bag I could huff that for awhile!
