Quitting Smoking - Ways to Stop

There are numerous ways that people use to stop smoking. People do actually succeed in stopping smoking but the same method of stopping does not work for everyone and sometimes the same method may finally work only after a second or third attempt at it is tried.

The most popular methods used to quit smoking and not in any particular order are: -

1) Willpower
2) Cutting down
3) Hypnosis
4) Patches, Gum, Lozenges
5) False Cigarette
6) Zyban
7) Acupuncture
8) Shock event

There is no doubt that each of these methods have been successful in helping someone to stop smoking. They work in slightly different ways to each other and I will attempt to describe each method and in my opinion the pros and cons of each


1) Willpower
This is probably the most used method for stopping smoking and one that does work. Actually a certain amount of willpower will be required no matter what method of quitting smoking you use. Unfortunately willpower kind of suggests a fight and suggests that if you are strong minded you will succeed and that if you fail you are weak minded. The description willpower is not helpful as far as stopping smoking is concerned because of the perceived battle that the word suggests. A better word would be 'decision'. Just make your decision and then that can be that. But make it a final decision and not some half-hearted attempt and then you can quit successfully.

2) Cutting down
This involves willpower with the idea of feedback that you are succeeding plus knowing that you are gradually weaning yourself off any perceived chemical dependency of cigarettes. In theory it sounds great because if each day you smoke one less cigarette you know you are getting closer to stopping. Unfortunately in order to know how many cigarettes you are smoking you have to count them and then know at any particular moment of the day how many you have had and how many more you can have. This method means that you have to think about smoking much more than if you were smoking freely. If something is on your mind more often, then it can make it harder to stop it. If you really want to succeed with using the cutting down method, don't get into counting each cigarette.

A better tactic is to decide to leave out certain cigarettes such as the one at 10:30 or the one after lunch. This way you don’t have to count how many you are smoking and yet you know you are cutting down.

3) Hypnosis
This method still requires 'willpower' or even better the 'decision' from the smoker that they want to stop. Hypnosis does not take away the choice of the person to smoke but rather it supports the decision to stop. It is like getting some extra help to support your decision to stop. Importantly it uses suggestions that are aimed at the stronger part of the mind, the subconscious mind, to let get of this old outdate and no longer useful response to life.

4) Patches, Gum and Lozenges
These methods still give you nicotine. The idea is that it helps with any withdrawal symptoms you may ordinarily put down to stopping smoking. It is an odd sort of logic in that patches, gum and lozenges still give you nicotine as a way of helping you to stop taking nicotine via cigarettes. Also as long as you chew gum, suck lozenges or have to wear a patch it constantly reminds you of smoking. A constant reminder is not a useful method to use to help stop doing something.

5) False Cigarette
This is a substitute for the action and behaviour of smoking but without the intake of all the chemicals involved. It helps those who would ordinarily miss doing something with the hands, or those who would feel less confident with having nothing in their hands. The down side is that although you are no longer inhaling all those poisons you are still keeping the habit and behaviour of smoking going.

6) Zyban
This is a prescribed drug that was found to help smokers deal with any perceived chemical withdrawal symptoms. The idea is that if the physical side of smoking is being aided by zyban than all you have to do is to deal with the action or routine of smoking. As soon as you have stopped the routine and discovered you are okay and life can carry on then you can, under your doctor's direction, come off zyban. Once again a method that may work for some but there may be side effects of using zyban which need consideration before using this method.

7) Acupuncture
This is the ancient Chinese treatment that inserts needles in certain acupuncture points on the body. The acupuncture points are not random but are definite and accurate places on the body. The idea with acupuncture is to enable the free flow of energy known as chi (pronounced 'chee') to flow along the meridian lines in the body. Blocks in the energy flow can cause or relate to issues whether physical, mental or emotional. For some people, acupuncture treatment has succeeded in helping them to stop smoking.

8) Shock event
For many people a shock of some sort will cause them to finally quit smoking. The shock may be the discovery of some smoking related illness such as cancer or it may be the loss of a friend or relative. Either way it brings home to the smoker their own mortality and what part they play in staying well and healthy. No one really chooses to be unhealthy. The shock event can work for many people and help them to stop smoking. Where the shock event fails is when, over time, the shock fades and feels more distant and the ex-smoker once again feels comfortable with smoking.

The overriding asset and best resource in using any of the above methods is the decision to stop smoking. So just make your decision to stop smoking and then stick to it.

Stop Smoking - Women Who Want to Quit Smoking

Ordinarily you would think that quitting smoking is the same for both sexes. Whether you are a man or woman there can be a variety of common reasons for starting smoking in the first place and another range of common reasons for quitting smoking across the sexes. Whilst on the surface this may appear true, there are important differences to understand which can definately aid quitting smoking for women.

According to research women start smoking and quit smoking for different reasons to men. For instance weight control is seen as a perceived benefit of smoking. Although smoking can help with weight control it does not help as much as it is perceived to help. As a clinical hypnotherapist I invariably ask my female clients who want to stop smoking this question "What would you rather deal with, a few extra pounds of weight or cancer?". Often the response will be that they fear the extra weight. Of course this can be because the weight gain can seem more immediate and possible, whereas cancer seems more distant and less likely to happen.

Another reason why women may smoke is because of their closer emotional bonding to other women. Women are natural empathisers and in empathising with a close friend, if that friend is a smoker, by also smoking themselves they may perceive or feel that they understand their friend's issue. To a lesser degree this response is true during a work break when a number of female colleague's will smoke together and is another way of keeping strong bonds intact.

Stopping smoking, when female friends are continuing to smoke, can make the new quitter feel isolated and distant from formerly close friends and colleagues.

Yet a third influence on women quitting smoking is their cycle. For those women who suffer irritability or worse during their cycle, it would not be a good idea to add to this by quitting smoking at the same time.

In order to make your chances of success in quitting smoking increase following these tips to deal with the above issues can help tremendously :-

Weight Fears
If you worry that you may put on weight when you stop smoking, make a plan to deal with this possibility before it happens such as :-
1) Increase the exercise you currently undertake such as
a) If you go to the gym, do a few more repititions or push yourself a bit harder
b) Introduce a form or exercise that is fun and social such as line dancing,
salsa dancing or even a social game of barminton, table tennis etc
c) Instead of riding up escalators, get into the habit of walking up them
d) Instead of taling the lift, walk up those flights of stairs
2) Reduce the amount you eat. Cut out something like an unncessary snack. May be that biscuit with a cup of coffee
3) Substitute ehealthier foods for fattening ones. Instead of that bag ofd crisps have an apple or better still a citrus fruit such as an orange
4) Introduce more water into your daily lifestyle even if it is just a couple of glasses of water a day. A glass of water that is taken 10 minutes before a meal will take the edge of your appetite.

Empathising With Friends
1) Find a more supportive way of helpibng your friend other that jointly poisoning yourselves. This can be by :-
a) Making yourself available at anytime on the telephone to give your friend
support
b) Being a non-judgemental and solution orientated listener
c) Letting them know you are there for them
d) Suggesting forms of help or available support


Timing
Choose a time in the month when you know you are at your peak physically, emotionally and mentally and not when you are about to enter your cycle. Quitting smoking just after your menstrual cycle and when you are feeling good and on the up can be great timing.

We are all different whether men or women and ultimately knowing yourself, what makes you tick and when the best time is here for you to stop smoking, is the biggest asset to your success.