Talk To Your Doctor

A new year can bring new motivation, but motivation isn’t what will help you quit smoking. You can’t just wake up one morning and expect things to be perfectly smooth from there on, it takes time, it takes effort and it takes some work, but when people engage in groups and take the right treatment, most are able to succeed.

Half of the smokers will try to quit at the start of January each year, but the majority of those who try to use self-control and go cold turkey will not succeed. However, fewer than 10 percent of those who quit cold turkey stop smoking for a year or longer. It's tough because smoker are going to go through nicotine withdrawal; smoker will get depressed, will get the shakes and will get irritable. This could go on for weeks.

Smokers sometimes try other methods to quit, including laser treatments, hypnosis and acupuncture. Few, if any, studies exist on their effectiveness. They all work in the area of suggestion, which can help some people, but another thing that works well is simply talking with your doctor for 15 minutes about why you should stop smoking.

Never Take Another Puff

Find a smoker who once quit smoking for a large period, say one year or longer and then relapsed. Ask him how he liked not smoking. Ask him how he now likes smoking. Then ask the main question, how did he return to smoking?

Probably answers will look like the ones below. "Not smoking was great. I hardly thought of cigarettes any more. I felt healthier, happier, and even calmer. Cigarettes smelled disgusting. The thought of smoking at my old level was odious." To the second question, how do you now like smoking, the answer will typically be, "I hate it, I smoke as much or even more than I did before. I feel more anxious, do not have as much energy, and generally feel like a fool when smoking in public. I sure wish I could quit again." The answer to the third and most important question of how did he return to smoking is almost always the same, "I took a cigarette."

It may have happened under stress, at a party, or at home alone with nothing-special going on. Whatever the cause, the result was the same - addiction to nicotine and cigarettes smoking. Learn from others' mistakes and not your own. Your smoking friend is folded in powerful and deadly addiction arms. Maybe he will get the chance and strength again to quit smoking; maybe he will smoke until smoking kills him.

You have successfully broken free of the nicotine addiction. While your smoking may have been a potential risk to your life in the past, now your risks are dropping down to that of a person who never smoked. As long as you stay off cigarettes, you never will have to worry about the physical, psychological, social and economical risks of smoking again as long as you follow one simple practice...

How to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey?

Do you know that reasons for quitting smoking and even problems with smoking cessation vary with age? Older smokers name different reasons to quit smoking compared with younger smokers. In most cases, it is connected with major health problems. Younger smokers attributed their reasons for quitting to the cost of cigarettes, tobacco odor, and general health concerns.

Also younger smokers were more likely than older smokers to report concerns of weight gain, stress management, fear of failure, handling social situations, and cravings as obstacles to quitting smoking. Young smokers believe that trying to quit "cold turkey" is best method, when in reality, only small quantity of smokers achieve long-term abstinence from smoking without professional help.

Physicians tell us that "The more we know about what motivates smokers to quit their habit and what personal obstacles they face in doing so, the more we can tailor smoking cessation programs to fit the individual needs of our patients." In reality all these programs should be individual, but it's hard to imagine and definitely will cost a smoker a pretty penny.

And what's about most popular "cold turkey" free method? Yes, going cold turkey or relying on willpower to quit smoking most often ends in failure, but this failure can teach you a great lesson. Using this failure or even several failures you are able to create your own successful quit smoking program. You will learn how your mind makes you believe that you really need another cigarette, and you will not be same blockhead next time.

There are countless ways to quit smoking, and the majority of smokers have tried their hands at most of them. Nicotine replacement therapies like gum, patches, and other drugs tend to send people into long and painful period of withdrawal that eventually causes them to start smoking again. And sometimes smokers cannot gather enough strength to repeat this process.

Cold turkey method also needs all smoker's power to succeed, but free from additional expenses and helps you to find your own guaranteed way to quit smoking for good. Just doesn't be panic if you failed in your cold turkey challenge. Your failure means that you need another chance only. And this time your experience will help you to succeed.

Help a friend to quit smoking

Support a friend goal to stop smoking with enthusiasm and vigor. The power of a supportive family member or friend is amazing to anyone who is trying to quit smoking. Many people that are close to a smoker do not know how to encourage them without being a nag. Encouragement is a wonderful gift to your friend or family member and can easily be accomplished. You do not need special skills to encourage... You just need a kind heart and a willingness to listen.

It is important not to be overly focused on helping the person become smokeless. Instead, use encouraging words to let your friend or family member know that you are there for them if they need anything. Becoming smoke-free is a long and difficult process. Your job as the encourager is to help your friend forget about the mistakes or slip-ups and encourage all the progress they are making. Most smokers do have an occasional slip up, do not encourage a slip up but don’t berate your friend when one happens. Everyone is human and will make mistakes; it is what happens after the mistake that counts. Help your friend get back on track to reaching their non-smoking goal.

Nicotine and tobacco are very addictive substances that can take months or even years to truly get out of a person’s system. Even after quitting some smokers say they continue to have urges to start smoking again. Your loved one will welcome your continued support as they struggle to stay smoke-free. Help your friend or family member no matter how they have decided to quit smoking.

You do not have to be a counselor to be good at encouraging. Simply be there for your friend or family member as they struggle to quit smoking. Encourage them every moment you get and they will soon have control over their desire to stop smoking. Remember that every person is going to quit smoking in a different way, so be supportive of the way your friend has decided to quit smoking and do not judge them.