QUIT SMOKING COLD TURKEY TIPS HOW TO

QUIT SMOKING COLD TURKEY TIPS HOW TO

A counselor, a support group or treatment program, or a telephone support line can help you learn coping skills such as how to address negative feelings, rather than masking them with a cigarette. Negative emotions like depression, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed are among the biggest contributors to relapse, says Jorenby. Consider trying a nicotine replacement therapy or joining a quit-smoking program, for instance. This may also be a good time to rethink your quitting strategy. Learn from your slip, so that you'll be better prepared next time. What was helpful? What made it difficult? What was the trigger that prompted you to pick up a cigarette again? Once you've identified it, make a plan for handling it in the future. Think about your past attempts at quitting.

So look at it this way: You’ve got a lot of company. According to the American Cancer Society, most people relapse many times before they quit smoking. Very few people are able to quit on the first try. It creates physical as well as psychological dependence, and that's why it's so hard to quit. Picking up a cigarette prolongs the withdrawal process. Almost all regular smokers experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms when they try to quit. The fewer cigarettes you have, the less your body will readjust to nicotine. The sooner you do, the easier quitting will be. On the other hand, if you react by feeling disappointed in yourself for smoking, but believe that you learned something from the slip, you're more likely to get back on track quickly.Īnd it's best to do so right away. If your reaction to that one smoke is to consider yourself a failure who is too weak to quit, you're likely to return to your old cigarette habit, says Douglas Jorenby, PhD, director of clinical services at the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention in Madison. How Perception Affects Efforts to Quit Smoking And understand that nicotine withdrawal is a strong force to overcome.

Focus on the time you've spent not smoking, not on the fact that you had one cigarette. Try to think of the lapse as a small setback, not a failure. In fact, an American Lung Association survey found that 6 out of 10 former smokers were not able to quit successfully on their first try, and required multiple attempts to quit for good.Įven when you slip up and light up, you have a choice: You can use the relapse as an excuse to continue smoking, or you can try to figure out why you did it and make a renewed attempt at quitting. What now? As anyone who has tried to stop smoking can attest, the process of quitting is difficult. You're trying to stop smoking, but you've slipped and had a cigarette.

Quit smoking cold turkey tips