Difference between social and regular smoker explained as doctor reveals extreme risks to body

While those most at risk from smoking are the people who do it more than everyone else, the health risk from a cigarette is still present whether or not you're doing it all the time.

It's one of the unhealthiest things you can do as a doctor called it 'the single worst thing you can do for your body' as it causes damage to 'nearly every organ'.

Dr Jeremy London explained that there are no health benefits to smoking and said that around one in five deaths were linked to it, while studies suggest that your lifespan is reduced by around 20 minutes for every cigarette.

Other research indicates that it ages you faster and that the cocktail of dangerous chemicals you're inhaling with every puff is chipping away at your body.

Though many smokers keep up quite a regular habit, there is another group who partake in smoking even if they don't do it very often, the social smokers, but they're still putting themselves at risk.

If you only have a cigarette when you're out with others then you're a social smoker, but you're still doing yourself harm (Getty Stock Photo)

What is a social smoker?

There's no medical definition for the term, but a social smoker is generally accepted to be someone who only smokes in social situations.

While a regular smoker will typically have a cigarette multiple times a day, the social smoker is not someone who smokes during their usual daily routine and reserves the habit for when other people are around.

So they might be someone who only smokes when someone else pops out for a cigarette, or perhaps only smokes while they're drinking or on a night out.

As Smokefree says, they can go for a lengthy period of time without smoking, but when someone else lights up, they'll be there right alongside them.

Many social smokers will have an activity they do which they connect with smoking, alcohol consumption in many cases, and will not smoke every day.

Social smokers may be in denial about an addiction and avoid getting help (Getty Stock Photo)

The danger of being a social smoker

Smoking less often is good, but smoking at all is still very bad for your health.

Niquitin warns about 'the illusion of not being addicted' as they say that many social smokers think they're not hooked on nicotine, but are wrong about that. They said this could lead to a problem where social smokers are 'unwilling to admit they are addicted' and can push them into denial that they have a problem.

As such, social smokers could be doing damage to themselves while never thinking they have enough of a problem to seek help or kick the habit. They also warned that people with an active social calendar could end up developing the habit of a regular smoker if they had enough events where they'd light up a cigarette.

Meanwhile, hypnotherapist Vikram Mano, who helps people quit smoking, explained that social smokers could see it as 'not a real habit' but even one cigarette from time to time 'keeps that addiction alive'.

He warned that smoking socially teaches your brain 'this is what we do when we're out' and it keeps the habit going.

Social smokers very often pair their habit with drinking (Getty Stock Photo)

The doctor's verdict

Any doctor worth their salt is going to tell you that smoking is bad, and some will dive into some very explicit details about how much you can ruin your health from smoking.

Dr Brian Hoeflinger called smoking 'one of the worst things you can do to your body' as he explained that it 'affects all the blood vessels in your body' which can result in heart attacks or a stroke, as well as your other organs.

He warned that it 'can really affect every organ in your body' as well as cause your vision to be impaired or give you type 2 diabetes and put you on a path to all kinds of cancers, especially in the lungs.

As far as the doctor is concerned, there are 'no real benefits to your body' and the only positive is the sooner you stop, the sooner your body will start repairing some of the damage.

Your body can start recovering from smoking, but some of the damage will take years to fully undo, and if you're a social smoker who tells themself they don't have a problem, so there's no need to quit, then you'll never get on the road to recovery.