Even with the knowledge about the dangers that smoking poses to one’s health, quitting smoking does not get easier. This is because smoking is a physical addiction and withdrawing from nicotine causes the body to experience withdrawal symptoms and crazy cravings. Smoking is also a psychological habit and it is deeply ingrained as a daily activity in the smoker’s life. You could be used to smoking during your breaks while driving to and from work, when with friends, or you use it to unwind and boost your mood, or to deal with anxiety, boredom, or stress. All of these things make giving up the habit quite hard.
Although quitting smoking is hard, it is possible, but only if the smoker gets help to deal with both the addiction and routines that accompany it in their life. It does not matter if one has tried to quit earlier but failed, even several times.
Here are 5 Way to Quit Smoking – You can use to Quit Smoking:
- Using behavioral therapy
This involves getting help from counselors, self-help materials, and support services to assist you through the tough period after cutting dependence, both physical and emotional, that you had on the nicotine. Once you can deal with the physical symptoms, you will also get over the emotional ones.
- Using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)
There are various nicotine replacement therapies including patches, nicotine gums, lozenges, sprays, and inhalers. The principle behind these therapies is to provide smokers who are working on quitting smoking with nicotine with no use of tobacco. Smokers stand better chances of giving up smoking by using this method, but it is more effective when used together with behavioral therapy and tons of support from loved ones and friends. It is vital to keep in mind that the goal is for smokers to overcome the addiction to nicotine, not just to stop using tobacco.
- Using e-cigarettes
E-cigarettes are worth a try, especially when nicotine patches and other nicotine replacement therapies fail. According to a recent study, e-cigarettes were found to be twice as effective compared with NRTs in helping smokers quit smoking. Using e-cigarettes could be more effective due to the behavioral aspect that it has, which other smoking cessation methods lack. It gives smokers something to do with their hands and helps with the social aspect of smoking as well. The critical thing is to buy an e-cigarette device and supplies including eliquid from reputable and trusted manufacturers and vendors to avoid getting low-quality products that may not be as helpful as needed or may pose some risks.
- Cold turkey (without external help)
Among the people who try to quit smoking, around 90% of them try to do it without any external help – without medicine, therapy, or any smoking cessation aids. Despite the majority of people trying to use this method, it is not the most effective or successful. Those who manage to quit on their own or cold turkey are a paltry 5 to 7%.
- Medication
There are prescription medicines that can help smokers to deal with cravings and withdrawal symptoms, thus making it easier to deal with the process of quitting smoking. Some of those medicines include varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion.
Quitting smoking is not easy due to the physical addiction as well as the psychological and behavioural aspect that accompanies it. However, with determination and the necessary support, you can manage to do it. You can use any of the above methods that work best for you or a combination of methods, say using two NRTs like nicotine patches and gums together, or NRTs and behavioural therapy.
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