Addicted to socializing

Smoking the odd cigarette with friends after a few drinks may seem relatively harmless, but, according to a story at independent.ie, research in the US has suggested that it may be as dangerous as an everyday habit.
More than 10 percent of the 39,000 people surveyed as part of the research said they were ‘social smokers’, compared with 17 percent who said they smoked daily. The study found that about 75 percent of both groups had high blood pressure, while 54 percent had high cholesterol.
The source of the research was not mentioned, but the story was in any case focused on why some people smoke at social events when it isn’t something they would do day-to-day?
“Social smoking is nothing to do with addiction to nicotine,” clinical hypnotherapist Fiona Brennan was quoted as saying. “It is all about the desire to belong. When we encounter new challenges in life such as starting college, or a new job, above all we want to fit in.”
But while social smoking was said to have nothing to do with addiction, Brennan said that there was the possibility that it would eventually lead to full-time addiction.
Nicotine, the story said, was highly addictive, and while the addiction had a physical component, it was mainly psychological. If a person started smoking socially, she would first make the connection between smoking and having fun and feeling confident. But smoking could then become a crutch on nights out, and this could leak into other areas of life.