SMOKING IS VALEOLOGICALLY DANGEROUS TO HEALTH (14): How to quit Smoking!!!

[Abbas Bubakar El-ta'alu]

Some practical "How to quit Ideas"

        Like any addiction, quitting tobacco is difficult, particularly if a smoker is acting alone. A smoker has a much better chance of success if he/she joins smoking cessation programs. Hospitals, health departments, community centres, non-governmental organisations, and work sites offer such programs. There are two very distinct and equally important phases to quit cigarette smoking.
   Most people who have been able to successfully quit smoking made at least one unsuccessful attempt in the past. You (the smoker) should try to view past attempts to quit as failures, but rather as learning experiences. If you are not successful the first time, simply look what occurred or what did not work, develop new strategies, and try again. Many attempts are often necessary to finally "beat the habit."

Phase I: (Just before quitting)

Switch brands: Switch to a brand you find distasteful. Change to a brand that is low in tar and nicotine (see chapter four) a couple of weeks. This will help change your smoking behaviour. However, DO NOT smoke more cigarettes, inhale them more or place your fingers over the holes in the filters. All of these will increase your nicotine intake, and the idea is to get your functioning without nicotine.
•   Cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke.
•   Smoke only half of each cigarette.
•   Each day, postpone lighting your first cigarette by 1 hour.
•   Decide that, you will smoke only during odd or even hours of the day.
•   Decide beforehand how many cigarettes you will smoke during the day.
•   Change your eating habits to help you cut down. For example, drink milk,
             which many people consider incompatible with meals or snacks with
             something that will not lead to a cigarette.
•   Reach for a glass of juice or water instead of a cigarette for a "pick-me-up."

Remember: Cutting down the number of cigarettes smoked each day can help you quit, but it is not a substitute for quitting. If you are down to about seven cigarettes a day set your target date and get ready to stick to it.

•   Do not smoke "Automatically": Smoke only those cigarettes
             you really want. Catch yourself before you light
             up a cigarette out of pure habit.
•   Do not empty your ashtrays. This will remind you of how many cigarettes
             you have smoked each day, and the sight and smell will be unpleasant.
•   Make smoking inconvenient: Stop buying cigarettes by the carton. Wait until
             one pack is empty before you buy another.
•   Stop carrying cigarettes with you at home and at work. Make them difficult
             to get to (see phase II).
•   Make smoking unpleasant: Some only under circumstances that are not
             especially pleasurable for you. If you like to smoke with others, smoke aone
             in an empty corner and focus only on the cigarette you are smoking and its
             many negative effects.
•   Collect all your cigarette butts in one large glass container as a visual
             reminder of the filth smoking represents.

         

Phase II: (Staying smoke-free and not relapsing)

      The tips in this phase are "boilerplate" points. Do your very best to follow as many of them as you can. They are advocated by most of today's credible quit-smoking programs. The points are widely accepted as an essential and necessary part of quitting successfully.

Make a commitment to yourself (Mind over Matter): Now that you have decided to quit smoking, commit to it. Pick up a date to quit. Do not even ponder thoughts of how difficult it will be. You should not be impatient. You are letting go of a habit that you have had for many years, if not all your adult life.
   It is imperative to focus all of your attention on why you must quit smoking now. Therefore, every time a thought enters your brain about why you need a cigarette or why it is going to be difficult to stop smoking, immediately think about why you MUST quit now (see below) or why smoking is a horrible habit – a silent killer.
   Create a "Commit to Quit" list by writing down all the reasons why you want to quit smoking. Think about your family, health, inconveniences, cost, the future, etc.
Announce your non-smoking status: Tell everyone that you have quit smoking. This creates a support system for you and awareness that you are no longer a smoker, and therefore, others will not ask or offer you a cigarette or a "light".
   The more extravagant you are with your announcement, the more likely you will sustain your non-smoker status, and the more others will take you seriously. Sit back, relax, and put some time between you and that last smoke.
Rid your Home of ALL smoking Paraphernalia: The number one reason why people fail at quitting the smoking battle is the accessibility (to cigarettes). So, throw away all cigarettes, lighters, matches, ashtrays, etc. Do not forget doing the same thing at your working place.
Do not be negative: Never look at past quit attempts as failures. Think about all of the positive changes you are creating in your life, and you will find out that, action will follow more easily. Focus on your purpose and develop an attitude of gratitude. Have patience with yourself and with the process.
Do not succumb: Beware of situations in which you are most likely to want to smoke (see below). Try changing your routine for the first few days.
   In phase II, the period which begins a few weeks, the urges to smoke will subside considerably. However, it is vital to understand that from time to time, you will still be overwhelmed with a desire for "just one cigarette". Cravings. Yes, you will have them – especially after you must have eaten, when you wake up in the morning, and after having sex. Cravings will also occur unexpectedly, during moments of stress, whether negative or positive (at a party, or on vacation). Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) can help if withdrawal symptoms are troublesome. You can get nicotine gum, sprays, patches, tablets, and inhalers. Using one of them roughly doubles your chance of quitting smoking if you really want to smoke.
   Keep oral substitutes handy – try carrots, pickles, groundnuts, sunflower seeds, apples, celery, raisins, or sugarless gum instead of cigarettes. Smokers develop an oral fixation. They get used to having something in their mouths and/or hands that it ends up getting the best of them, and before they know it , they are smoking again. So, you must curb the need. Whatever curbs the need (besides smoking, of course), use it. If you are unprepared to resist, succumbing to that "one cigarette", you will be back to smoking. Remember the following secret: Deep breathing is perhaps the single most powerful and important technique.

•   Inhale the deepest lung-full of air you can, and then, very slowly exhale.
             Purse your lips so that the air must come out through the nose.
•   As you exhale, close your eyes, and let your chin gradually sink over
             onto your chest. Visualize all the tension leaving slowly draining out of your 
             fingers and toes, just flowing on out.

   This is a variation of an ancient Yoga technique from India, and is very centering and relaxing; use it for any future stressful situation you find yourself in. It will be your greatest weapon during cravings over the first few days.