How long does it take to form a new habit?

Habit is all about the relationship between repetition and automaticity. If a person starts a new behaviour and repeats it every day how long does it take for that behaviour to become automatic (habitual).

A person smokes marijuana everyday for a year. He then stops smoking marijuana = the new behaviour. How long will it take for the non smoking to become habitual or automatic. The answer is that there is not a linear relationship between repetition and automaticity. Instead the relationship results in an asymptotic curve as shown in this diagram.

The early days of the repetitions result in a quick increase in automaticity. After a time this slows and there is a plateau effect in the automaticity where more repetitions result in little increase in the automaticity.

A behaviour is generally regarded as fully habitual when a person reaches 95% of asymptote. A 100% is when further repetitions result in no more increase in automaticity and there is a complete plateau. Research suggests that the time to reach 95% of asymptote takes 66 days. There can however be considerable variation with a range from 18 to 254 days.

Hence it can be said that for one to become a fully habitual non marijuana smoker will take 66 days. At that time the fully formed habit assists the person not to smoke marijuana again.

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Habit - friend or foe?

Kahless makes a good point with her comment

As for switching addictions, how can you switch a food addiction when you still have to partake in it everyday? 

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Humans are habitual creatures, very much so. Habitual drug use is no exception. One part of the reason why some people use drugs excessively is because the drug use becomes a habit. To stop using one has to break the habit. 

However habit is both the drug users worst enemy and best friend depending on the timing. 

If one has used marijuana almost everyday in the previous two months then there is a strong habitual urge to use again today.

If one has not used marijuana in the previous two months then there is a strong habitual urge not to use today.

Breaking a habit is a waiting game that turns habit from your enemy into your friend. If you can just not use long enough then the new non using behaviour becomes habitual. One becomes a habitual non drug user and thus it is easier to not use.

Of course one can not use any marijuana at all and still exist but one cannot stop eating completely. Thus the habitual aspect to eating can never stop. Thus one can argue that a food addiction is harder to break than a drug addiction. 

Of course how and what one eats will be in part determined by habit, but it is harder to stop a food addiction because one cannot stop eating completely.

UK politicians who admit to using marijuana

Current Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron has stated that he is “not issuing denials” about newspaper stories which claim he had used marijuana

Jacqui Smith

Alistair Darling

Ruth Kelly

Andy Burnham

Harriet Harman

Hazel Blears

Vernon Coaker

Caroline Flint

Patricia Hewitt

Tony McNulty

Mo Mowlam

Boris Johnson

US politicians who admit to using marijuana

George W. Bush

Bill Clinton

Newt Gingrich

Al Gore

John Kerry

Barack Obama

Sarah Palin

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jesse Ventura

Australian politicians who admit to using marijuana

Julia Gillard

Malcolm Turnbull

Kevin Rudd

Wayne Swan

Peter Garrett

Tony Abbott

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