Not being able to stop for a week shows you are an addict. But being able to stop for week doesn't really show you aren't one. Most addicts do quit for weeks or even months at a time.
Correct. "Not doing $X anymore" doesn't mean you aren't an addict. "Being able to turn on/turn off doing $X" means you aren't an addict. If you haven't had a drink in years, but having a single one means that you now cannot do without the bottle, you're still an addict.
I've always said that there's no such thing as an ex-smoker; they're smokers who haven't smoked in a long time.
At least to their lungs they‘re not smokers anymore :)
"There is no such thing as an ex-FOO" does not imply that it is true for any value of FOO..
This kind of absolutism may end up discouraging present-day smokers from trying to quit at all. It's also not necessarily true. Some people do go from being smokers to hating the sight/smell/thought of smoking.
Not posting this to be contrarian, just on the off chance there's anyone reading this whose trying to quit and is looking for a new angle to try. If you can't quit, don't quit. Just don't smoke. This is what finally worked for me.
I turned phrases like that into a contrarian joke to justify my addiction.
I was tempted to smoke for the dirt 2-3 years after I quit. But I've grown to despise it and being around it.
If I smell it in passing, it smells pretty disgusting. But if I spend the weekend at my parents (both heavy smokers), I quickly fall in love with the smell again and yearn for “one last cig”.
A big problem for me is that tobacco smoke very much smells like home - it’s what home smelled like growing up. And nothing takes you back like a strong, familiar scent.
Note that this belief is completely at odds with that of modern psychatric medicine, and is one of the core beliefs of most 12 step programs, which are ineffective pseudoscientific systems.
Addicts that quit for X amount of time and relapse KNOW they're addicted. They know that they need to be conscious at all times, and that even after decades they may relapse if they're not careful. This is where organizations like AA come in, offering support, coaching, goals and positive feedback for dealing with - in that case - alcoholism.