Many habitual smokers are well aware of the damage this habit does to themselves and others, but they cannot give it up. What is the problem?
Tips for Quitting
Many heavy smokers are well aware of the danger and unpleasantness of the habit, for themselves and others, but they simply can’t quit. What is the problem? Is it useless to fight against cigarette smoke, and the “last” cigarette, lurking in the pack, will never really be the last?
To quit smoking, you have to have the determination to do it. Scientifically speaking, you must be motivated to take that step. If there is no clear determination to stop smoking, then you don’t see smoking as a problem, and no technique can help you, because the problem is just not there for you.
Smoking is a habit, and as a habit it has its constituent parts and its algorithm of functioning. To get rid of the habit, you need to change the algorithm. This is the technique offered by modern psychology.
At the moment of committing the habitual sequence of steps “External stimulus. – Desire to smoke. – Buying a cigarette (taking it out of your pocket). – Smoking” should happen something that changes this chain, for example, to this: “External stimulus. – The desire to smoke. – Something. – The decision not to smoke.”
The external reasons for the desire to smoke for different people are different situations. For example, for many people smoking is a source of relaxation, and may provoke a desire to smoke: a break at work, being in nature, a good evening at the bar with friends, drinking alcohol, fatigue, fatigue.
It is impossible to resist the habit for a long time, so it is not necessary to resist it, you must try to change the algorithm that causes the habit, to build into it an additional link.
To “strangle” your habit, follow the following. Take a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Write on the sheet a heading “What gives me smoking” and item by item list all the emotions and feelings about the process. Then make a second list of “Why I want to quit smoking.” Try to be honest in your assessment of your feelings. For example:
What does smoking give me?
1. Feeling relaxed.
2. The pleasant feeling of inhaling and exhaling smoke
3. The feeling of unity with friends who smoke
4. It suits me, etc.
Why do I want to quit smoking?
1. I want to take care of my health, I want to keep my lungs clean and reduce the burden on my heart.
2. to improve my skin and hair condition
3. I would like to reduce my risk of cancer.
4. I want to stop feeling guilty about smoking.
5. I’m tired of smelling tobacco from my mouth and clothes
6. I want to get back the white color of my teeth 7.
7. A lot of money spent on cigarettes, etc.
Now we need to compare the two lists. If the arguments in the second list sound significant and there are more of them, you do have good reasons to get rid of cigarettes. If the number of arguments on the first list dominates, then you don’t have a smoking problem. But perhaps there are health and appearance problems. In this case, quitting smoking will be hard to do.
If the second list wins the battle, put it in your wallet or purse so that it is always at hand. When the urge to smoke arises, take out the list and reread all the points, then repeat them to yourself. If you don’t have the list nearby, try to remember all the points. Now decide whether to smoke.
If the answer still comes to mind, “Yes,” you can cheat a little by saying to yourself, “But not today. And every day say to yourself, “I’ll put up with it today. And tomorrow we’ll see. Maybe I won’t feel like it. It really helps!
At first the urge to smoke will arise constantly. You need a strong determination to go all the way in your quest to be free of cigarette slavery. Gradually the urge to smoke will be less and less.
Remember, if the desire to smoke still caught up with you, you need to reread the list again and repeat it to yourself. This is very important after some time, when the memory of a firm resolve to give up cigarettes is somewhat erased, and the mechanism of habit again was started by some external factor. It is at this point that millions of smokers have returned to their habit more than once. The list allows you to recapture your decision to become cigarette independent. Don’t try to tell yourself, “I can have one cigarette” – it won’t work. The habit mechanism either kicks in or it doesn’t. One cigarette may be followed by a second, a third… For the same reasons, the option “I will smoke sometimes, only on holidays and in the company of friends” is impossible.
To support your decision to give up cigarettes you can also take such “auxiliary” measures: first, get rid of all the “stashes” in your bags and pockets, throw out the lighters and matches, remove ashtrays and other smoking accessories from sight. But that’s not all.
Acquaintances or friends will out of habit offer to smoke “for company”. So at work, at the institute, at home announce that in your life with smoking is over. This will help you not to snap – in fact you will have to answer for their words, first of all, to yourself. And secondly, look weak-willed chatterbox in the eyes of friends nobody wants.
Also very stimulates the desire to quit smoking praise of others. If among your friends is a man who quits smoking, not too lazy to praise him for it, admire his willpower. See how much easier he will refuse the next offer to go for a smoke break.
The fight against any kind of addiction – the most difficult task for the modern man, living in a sea of negative information and stress. But everything become
