Most people find it hard to quit smoking, but it’s not impossible thanks to a variety of resources including medications, counseling and other initiatives.
The Canadian Lung Association (CLA) assures persons that have tried to quit before but without success to not be discouraged because the more times you try, the easier it gets and soon you will be on your way towards quitting for good.
One of the ways to quit smoking is to pick a quit day. The website suggests that you do this within the next two weeks. They add that there is no such thing as the “perfect day to quit” so just pick a date, mark it down in your calendar and get started.
They suggest that you list your reasons for quitting such as taking better care of your health so that you will be around longer for your family; list some new hobbies you can take up instead of smoking that would keep your mind off smoking and find out about nicotine withdrawal symptoms and how to cope with them.
You can also talk to family, friends and work colleagues to get their guidance regarding ways to quit smoking if any of them were once smokers are not any longer or to get their advice and support even if they were not.
Additionally, persons can start making changes to put smoking out of their everyday life by quitting smoking one place at a time such as not smoking in the house and/or social events.
Another thing that they can do is to get individual counseling either face to face or over the phone. This can include counseling provided by a psychologist, physician or getting help through a not-for-profit organization that might be able to point you in the right direction.
There is also nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), where “the nicotine patch, gum, lozenge or inhaler replaces some of the nicotine you usually get from cigarettes. This can make nicotine withdrawal easier to manage”.
Some persons actually do not need a series of steps or days to quit smoking. Instead, they do it all in one go and this may be a solution for you. “Going “cold turkey” – quitting spontaneously, on your own – also works well for some people. Some people just decide to quit smoking one day – maybe it’s the day they find out they have a lung disease, or the day their grandchild is born. Maybe there is something else that motivates them. Many people who have quit smoking for good say they quit “cold turkey”. If you think going cold turkey could work for you, try it.
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