I finished University. The comfort of school was now gone. Cigarettes, coffee and the constant search for a job were all I had. It was time to face real life.

I was a degreed Economist. But those jobs were scarce. I secured a Government Tax Officer position.  Now I had a stable, Government job. But there was no professional growth.  It was unfulfilling.

Worse, common in former Communist countries are bosses who are bosses due to political support; NOT competence.  My boss was THE example of that. I constantly had more than my share of abuse from him.

My job was unfulfilling. My boss was abusive. My anxiety levels were going up fast.  I was more depressed than ever.  My drinking and smoking greatly increased.

Have you been in this situation?

I did not deal well with these matters. My depression deepened. I increased my self-destructive behaviors of drinking and smoking. I hit my all-time low.         

 I raised my self-medicating with cigarettes to 2 packs a day.  That’s one EVERY 24 minutes. I did NOT realize their influence on me!!

how many of us abuse cigarettes this

way?