HOW TO STOP SMOKING: NICOTINE ADDICTION
Most smokers have an element of nicotine dependency in their habit. As your body begins to lose traces of nicotine the cigarette craving begins, and then you begin to experience the nicotine withdrawal symptoms. You become irritable and anxious. You begin to wonder whether you might not be far better off unhealthily happy than miserably fighting fit.
There are two ways you can help matters. The first is not to stop all at once, but to go through an initial period of cutting down (as distinct from trying to give up by 'tailing off your smoking, a method which almost never works); this is not ideal, but the fewer you smoke the better. Although it is frequently said that the only way to give up smoking for good is to stop abruptly and altogether, this is often extremely difficult - especially if you smoke more than a pack a day. Instant 'cold turkey' is not always best. So, if you find that you simply cannot stop smoking right now, try to cut down in the following ways:
- Remember that the unburned part of the cigarette acts as a filter. If you can put the cigarette out before it is half-smoked, you will avoid taking in a significant amount of toxic material.
- Don't inhale. If you do, don't inhale deeply.
- Ration yourself and stick to the ration. Make sure you smoke fewer than 15 a day - any more and soon you will be back to a pack a day.
- Try a pipe or cigars instead of cigarettes, and don't inhale.
- Smoke the lowest-tar cigarette available.
- If you smoke a pipe or cigar, ration yourself. Use filters. If you're a pipe-smoker, use less tobacco; if a cigar-smoker, buy smaller cigars.
- Concentrate on one of the 'trigger' situations at a time. For instance, to start with give up smoking after meals. Once you have managed this, go on to the next trigger. Treat yourself to something as a reward for progress. Have a definite time-span in mind for stopping completely - don't make it too protracted or your enthusiasm and willpower may wane.
- If even this proves hard, work out the times day or situations when you most need smoke and allow yourself to do so then, but only then.
Strategy number two is gradually to reduce the amount of nicotine in your tobacco intake. You smoke the same number of cigarettes (this is most important) but over a four-week period you gradually switch to a low-tar brand so that you end up adjusted to far lower levels of nicotine. At the end of the four weeks you can then have a stab at quitting altogether, and your 'cold turkey' will have less shattering effects. It is often easier to give up than to stay off cigarettes for good; many people achieve abstinence for a few months and then revert to cigarettes for one of many reasons, like a personal crisis or a holiday period. And, above all, don't be too disheartened if you don't manage to give up the first time. It may take several attempts.
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