Time to quit….now
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Jonathan Foulds, MA, MAppSci, PhD
Today is one of the most popular days of the year on which to quit smoking. If you havn’t thrown away your last cigarette yet, there is still time to do it. While my personal opinion is that its best to do some preparation for quitting (finding out what medications may help, getting your prescription if necessary, telling friends and family you are quitting, anticipating difficult situations etc), there is no doubt that many people can successfully quit by simply deciding that the one they are smoking is their last, stubbing it out, and making a personal commitment to not smoke again.
For many people who successfully quit, one of the keys to success is having a single-minded focus on remaining smoke free. I think that’s one of the characteristics of successful treatment programs, and even self-help materials (e.g. the Allen Carr books I wrote about a couple of weeks ago) – they very strongly encourage the smoker to make quitting their number one priority, and keep reinforcing that message. So to succeed I think that’s what you have to do. An attitude of “I’ll give it a go and see how it goes” is unlikely to cut it. Whereas an attitude that, “Nothing can make me smoke and I’m choosing not to, no-matter what”, is more likely to succeed. And that means being prepared to do what it takes, and using all the help you can get.
I’d be interested to hear from people who tried to quit recently…what has been the most difficult part and what has helped.
Labels: jonathan foulds, smoking cessation
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3 Comments:
At Tue Jan 01, 10:24:00 PM 2008,
mike.thurgood said…
I smoked a pipe for about 25 years until I was about 45, then went on to smoking small ("Manikin") cigars for about another 15 years. Latterly I noticed that coughs got worse with a cold than previously. That wasn't good news, and by then the evidence was clear about the serious health harm that smoking can cause, even though I didn't actually ever draw the smoke into my lungs, other than breathing in what I had blown into a room atmosphere, of course.
Giving up smoking when I was around 57-58 was not much more of a trauma for me than making up my mind about it, the first time unsuccessfully, thinking about it when I passed the shop where I normally bought my small cigars, thereby reverting for a few months.
The second time of giving up was successful. No medication, no substituting with sweets or whatever, merely using willpower to say "never again!". That was about 25 years ago. How horrid the tobacco companies must feel to lose all that profit from me!
If I had continued to smoke, now at 80 in reasonably good health, what would it have been like if I hadn't done so? Would I have even reached my 8th decade?
Now, ironically, I have to take a medication to control blood pressure - which induces a cough. You can't win!
At Thu Jan 03, 03:01:00 PM 2008,
Jonathan Foulds, MA, MAppSci, PhD said…
Mike,
I'm glad to hear that you are relatively healthy at 80. No doubt you are a lot healthier now as a result of stopping smoking all those years ago. Every year of smoking after age 35 takes off about 3 months of life, so you may have gained as much as 20 healthy years by quitting. Sounds like you did win big by quitting. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
At Tue Jan 08, 07:56:00 AM 2008,
Lleggss said…
You are so right in saying that when you quit you have to say "I never want to smoke again" I did just that 23 years ago. My two sisters, myself and my dad took on the challenge of quiting together...I quit for good because that was my mind set!
I didn't want the smoking to control me, I wanted to control it!! Drinking lots of water, and doing something else... whatever it may be..( eg. playing guitar, crafting, photography, even just eating sunflower seeds helped me..low fat and keeps your hands busy if you crack them open with your hands LOL etc..) Also, just take clean, deep breaths helps you through the tough times.
I love being a part of the majority now. You can do it if you really want to..believe me. The first eight days may be the hardest, but you have to think..It would be a lot more painful to cope with cancer than taking up the challenge to JUST QUIT SMOKING!!! Believe in yourself and just do it.
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