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See also: 'Fires in Ships' |
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| Of the people who
quit smoking, about 95 percent do it on their own. No
single method of quitting works for everyone: Some stop
suddenly (cold turkey) while others gradually cut back.
Many smokers join low-cost smoking cessation clinics. Stop smoking clinics generally provide education about smoking, group support, and a firm date for quitting. Other cessation methods utilize individual and group counseling, hypnosis, behaviour modification, and the use of nicotine patches or other drugs to mediate withdrawal.  Here are some of the methods smokers have used to
quit.List your reasons for quitting. List personally important reasons such as bad breath, embarrassment at smoking in front of your children, and so on. After quitting, if craving and withdrawal make you uncomfortable, use your list to remind yourself of the unacceptable and unappetizing aspects of smoking. Emphasize immediate benefits. If long-term health benefits of quitting are too abstract and removed to motivate quitting, focus on immediate rewards such as better breath, improved stamina, losing the morning smoker's cough, fresher clothes and hair, and the cleanliness of empty ashtrays. 
Study your smoking habit. Keep a smoking diary to show
when and under what circumstances you smoke (waking up,
with coffee, with friends). Note your mood when you
smoke, and if you are cutting back gradually keep track
of each cigarette you smoke on a piece of paper wrapped
around your cigarette pack and secured with a rubber
band. Unwrapping and recording your cigarettes will help
you grow more conscious of your smoking. Plan your
quitting. Set a date several weeks in advance and plan
ahead. Tapering off before the target date may be helpful
to lower nicotine dependency. Talk to friends who have
quit and learn what to expect. Ask your doctor for
advice. Enlist the help of friends and family. Ask others
not to smoke in your presence. When offered a cigarette,
politely but firmly decline. Get rid of all cigarettes
and other smoking accessories. Get rid of your favorite
ashtrays and lighters at home and at work. Eat a better
diet. Smoking decreases appetite by dulling taste and
smell, so when you quit you can better taste and smell
food again. This also may increase your weight as you
satisfy your oral craving for food after you quit
smoking.Avoid high-calorie foods and keep low-calorie snacks handy, but do not be obsessed about holding back on calories in the beginning. The early period of quitting is not the time for a stringent diet, since low-calorie dining will create an atmosphere of self-denial that may lead to smoking relapse. But weight gain is not inevitable when you quit smoking. You can return to your normal weight once you are used to a new, healthier lifestyle. Exercise more. Exercise minimizes weight gain and increases a sense of physical well-being, calming the jitters and relieving tension. Some people have quit smoking after they started jogging or swimming and discovered how smoking rendered them breathless. Avoid situations linked to smoking. Identify and avoid the occasions you are most likely to smoke, and plan other activities such as a walk after dinner instead of coffee and a cigarette. Reward yourself. The financial rewards of not spending money on cigarettes are an immediate incentive for quitting, and some ex-smokers save their former cigarette money to pay for trips, CDs, or clothes. Others use the money for special treats like a new book, flowers, or taxi rides home from work. If you quit, pamper yourself. You deserve it. Pampering adds to the immediate satisfaction of knowing that every day you do not smoke, you are overcoming one of the most serious, powerful, and harmful addictions known to medicine. |
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See also: 'Healthy
Lifestyle' |
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Benefits of
Quiting Tobacco |
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| Many of smoking's adverse effects are reversed when
smokers quit. Immediately: Bronchitis and emphysema improve as breathing eases and lung function deterioration decelerates. After 1 year: Risk of heart disease drops significantly. After 7 years: Risk of bladder cancer drops to the same level as for nonsmokers. After 10 years: Risk of heart disease is the same as nonsmokers. After 10 to 15 years: Risk of shortened life expectancy, as well as risk of lung cancer, larynx cancer, and mouth cancer, approaches that of people who have never smoked. |
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| Therapies
for Stopping Smoking |
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| Pharmacological therapies for smoking: Nicotine Patch. Replaces nicotine in the bloodstream without the need for cigarettes. Nicotine replacement in this manner may not work for everyone. Side effects may include nausea, skin irritation, and heartburn. Nicotine gum is also available but is harder to use and is not as reliable as patches in releasing a steady amount of nicotine into the blood. Clonidine Therapy. Antihypertensive drug that studies suggest may be effective in blocking nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Antidepressants. Used as a substitute for nicotine to ease withdrawal symptoms. Studies show that heavy smokers are more likely to have suffered from episodes of depression than nonsmokers. Heavy smokers addicted to cigarettes constantly crave cigarette smoke, and some chain-smokers light another cigarette as soon as the previous one is stubbed out. Waking in the morning with a hacking cough, they still reach for a cigarette even before rising. For these types of smokers, quitting may be difficult and generally must be performed cold turkey since gradual nicotine withdrawal causes too much discomfort. Many of these smokers throw away their cigarettes after a frightening discussion of smoking's effects with their doctor or after reading about the health consequences of smoking. These smokers must make a conscious act of will to quit smoking and focus on improving their health with self-control over their habit. Anyone trying to quit tobacco addiction can take reassurance from the fact that more than millions of people have quit successfully since the U.S. Surgeon General's first report on the dangers of smoking in 1964. Today, smokers looking to quit can choose from a smorgasbord of therapies, self-help groups, and information. |
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| Alternative
Smoking Therapies |
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| Acupuncturists use tiny needles inserted into the
body at prescribed points to alleviate the urge to smoke.
Usually these points are in the ear, and small staples
may be left in place in the ear to prolong treatment. Acupuncture's effectiveness in aiding smoking cessation is controversial and research has not always supported its worthiness. While one study showed the technique had about a one in three success rate, another found little or no benefit. Other research has purportedly found that placebos (needles placed at random points) work almost as well. Self-hypnosis and various relaxation therapies are also used in the battle to give up cigarettes. Since many people smoke as a reaction to stress, progressive relaxation techniques are substituted for smoking. These techniques include meditation, in which the mind is emptied of all thoughts or relaxing images are pictured in the mind, and muscle relaxation, during which muscles are tensed and then relaxed. None of these techniques is a panacea for the cravings many smokers encounter when they give up tobacco. If you are quitting smoking, you may find that applying several different techniques provides the most effective formula that will help you stay off cigarettes. |
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