 Each and every New Year, smokers around the world make a promise to themselves and their loved ones that they are going to stop once and for all, only that this time they really do mean it. And they do, they really do mean it when they make this promise to themselves and others. Today's smokers are fully aware of the cigarettes effects that get inflicted onto others through passive smoking. However smoking cessation is a lot easier said than done. Stopping smoking is the easy part, but it's staying stopped that causes so many problems for those addicted to the drug nicotine. There's also the habit to break which has been formed over years of smoking tens of thousands of cigarettes. Effects on both smokers and those around them over time can be nothing less than tragic.
The problem with a lot of smokers, or any addicts come to that, is that it's easy to get wrapped up in denial. Denying the dangers to both self and the cigarettes effects passed onto others, often helps to justify what is a gripping and powerful dependence on tobacco. I, like so many others, didn't manage to quit on the very first attempt. I wish I had of done as it would have meant many more years spent in good health. Even so, I kept trying until I eventually found out that the less painful and most successful way ever was to use nicotine replacement therapy. Knowing how to quit smoking using nicotine replacement therapy is so simple, and so effective, it's a wonder there are any smokers left in society!
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How to Quit Smoking starts with your commitment!
A lot of us when we are actively smoking are masters at justifiable excuses. We zoom in on those reasons why now is not the right time to quit, and zoom out on the reasons why right now is the perfect time to kick the habit. We've said it before here on addicted to more, and we'll say it again; the only time a smoker has any chance of breaking this dependence on tobacco is when he wants to stop more than he want to continue. Smokers can't see the problems that cigarettes effects have on them and those around them until they are able to adjust their attitude towards their love affair with nicotine.
So if stopping smoking never killed anyone, continuing smoking definitely does kill smokers and those who are exposed to their second hand smoke over the years. Why then would anyone want to continue armed with such knowledge? Mores to the point, why then would anyone want to even start to begin with? Although such questions are interesting, they do little to help those already hooked on the drug nicotine. Wanting to stop smoking and therefore taking away any future harmful cigarettes effects from both smoker and passive smokers, is the right thing to do. There is a solution but only for those who really want it. It's called nicotine replacement therapy. Here's a bit of my personal experience with this:
Here in the UK, the cost of a packet of 20 cigarettes is astronomical when compared to other countries. As of Oct 2009, the average price for a single pack is £5.85, which is just under $10 US give or take. Around 76% of this cost is government tax. It doesn't take a complicated mathematical calculation to see that a lot of money is spent by British smokers, and for what? To get sick and unhealthy and most likely die prematurely, let alone make a noticeable dent in the family budget. Cigarettes effects are numerous, that's for sure, which is why so many smokers are trying to quit all the time. Sadly, it's not the stopping that is the main problem here. It's staying stopped that most of us have experienced the most difficulty with.
Men in particular for some reason think that it's a bit wimpish to stop smoking with the help and support of smoking cessation aids or other people. Even when the cold turkey approach ahd failed many times previous and they have seen others succeed with the help of nicotine patches or gums for example, still the 'hard man' will insist that it's suffering or not at all. This all sounds like yet another latent excuse to carry on doesn't it. Surely the 'real' man is the one who stopped, stayed stopped and wasn't afraid to take whatever help he could along the way. Cigarette effects the brain with all of us in much the same way. It is really the attitude towards cessation that makes or breaks the attempt.
For me, well, I should have stopped smoking many years before I eventually kicked the habit, but I was just too much in love with the cigarettes. Effects on my illogical brain were telling me that life would be miserable without tobacco. Even though I was becoming quite breathless at doing the most simple of tasks plus suffering this constant coughing all day long, I still thought it would be just awful to quit smoking. Effects on both mind and body were having a negative impact on how I felt and functioned in as much as I was restless, breathless, and irritable should I go more than 90 minutes without a nicotine fix. Reading as I write this today, I now find it incredible that I couldn't see the quit-smoking benefits at the time that I was hooked.
There was a time where smoking almost lost me my job, not through ill health as such but by my persistent coughing which apparently was annoying my work colleagues. Looking back, it must have been irritating because I used to cough and clear my through all day every day, from the moment I woke up to the time I went to bed, and even then I would often get waken up half way through the night by a chesty cough. Anyway, the office supervisor at the time told me I had to do something about this self inflicted semi choking if I wanted to continue working there. Sometime after that I quit, and also used my smoking cessation as a good reason to raise money for a local charity. The support I got from work mates was simply phenomenal.
At the time of the complaint I resented my employers and the unknown colleagues who complained about me on behalf of the others. I did get some sympathy from my fellow smokers in the yard which gave a little temporary relief to my state of mind, but the bottom line was that this threat of dismissal was the wake up call I needed, and my work mates had actually done me a great favour, even though it didn’t feel like it at the time!
When I got over myself and really began to think about my constant coughing, occasional chest pains, breathlessness, risk of unemployment, money issues, long term health risks, and the stench in clothes and home that only comes from smokers, I really started to see the true benefits of smoking cessation perhaps for the first time in my life. I knew I couldn’t just quit without help, but I did know that the time had come to quit smoking now, and so I began to look at various ways on how to quit smoking with the help of nicotine replacement therapy.
 How to Quit Smoking Using Nicotine Patches!
It was only when I was able to remove myself of the denial which I had hidden behind for so many years as a smoker that I can honestly say I had tipped the scales in favour for smoking cessation. For the first time ever as a nicotine addict, I wanted to stop more than I wanted to continue. After reviewing a few of the nicotine replacement therapy products, I decided to have a go with the nicotine patches, and I’m pleased to report that I haven’t had a cigarette since that first patch went on. Oh, there have been occasions when I fancied a smoke, but I’ve always managed to hold onto that feeling of wanting to stay stopped more than I wanted to light up again, and so 9 years later I’m a very happy and healthy individual.
I also want to point out that the benefits of quitting the habit are not something you have to wait long to experience. In actual fact, in only a couple of days of stopping I noticed a huge improvement in my breathing. Day and night time coughing stopped too and as a consequence, my quality of sleep improved.
Today, I enjoy my food much more and I also find myself drinking far less tea and coffee (I enjoyed a smoke more with a cuppa!). I even exercise on a regular basis, and that’s something that wasn’t even in my thoughts as an active smoker. But I’m not a reformed anti-smoker and I fully understand the difficulties people have with quitting. I also recognize the pleasure and relief smoking gives to some individuals. Most smokers will quit when the time is right for them, and unrelenting nagging from loved ones will not help them until they are ready to help themselves.
If you are concerned about someone close to you who smokes, just let them know your concerns, tell them you will support them the moment they decide to quit, and try to avoid regular lecturing, as this rarely does anything to strike up a meaningful conversation on how to quit smoking. If you feel you need to bring their smoking up in tête-à-tête from time to time, attempt to have soft discussions about it and avoid those power driven arguments. When a smoker begins to fight for cessation and not against addiction, he or she is preparing to quit, however long that process takes. Talking about the benefits of stopping as opposed to the dangers of continuing, are far better ways to address the issues.
What is Nicotine?
Put in simple terms, nicotine is the addictive substance found in tobacco. Going into a bit more detail, nicotine is what's known as an alkaloid (chemical substance) nerve poison that occurs in smoker's tobacco. It's also used in various medicines and insecticides. It's a mind altering substance and works by directly stimulating the nervous system. It's little wonder so many 'nicotine addicts' find it difficult to wean off the drug!
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