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The Psychology of Quitting Smoking
Many experts believe smoking is only about 10% physical addiction and a
whopping 90% psychological addiction. Your body will recover fairly
quickly from nicotine withdrawals (the worst symptoms usually abate in
three days or less), but your psychological dependency on cigarettes
can be much more difficult to defeat.
One way to combat this is to do a bit of self-analysis before giving up
cigarettes.
Make a list with two columns. Label column one "Why I Started Smoking"
and label column two "Why I Want To Quit Smoking."
In column one, list all the reasons you can remember as to why you
started smoking in the first place. Was it peer pressure? Rebellion?
Did you think it made you look cool? Did it make you feel like a
grown-up? Really try to remember the exact reasons why you started
smoking and write them all down.
Now look over that list. Do any of those reasons still apply in your
life today? Probably not.
If you're like most people, you will see that your reasons for
becoming a smoker are no longer valid, are often just silly, and are
easily outweighed by the risks to your health and your family's
well-being.
So let's move on to column two... Why do you want to quit smoking?
This one may seem obvious, but it can be a bit tricky. You really
need to take some time and think hard about this. Don't just list the
obvious health reasons. You've been reading the Surgeon General's
warnings for years with little effect, so you need to come up with
reasons that truly have meaning for you.
The things most people write down will NOT help you quit smoking...
- I don't want to get lung cancer.
- I don't want to have a heart attack or a stroke.
- I'd like to live long enough to see my grandchildren grow up.
Those are all good reasons to quit smoking, certainly... but they deal
in "possibilities" rather than in specifics.
Sure you MIGHT get lung cancer, you MIGHT have a heart attack or a
stroke, you MIGHT die young and miss out on seeing your grandchildren
grow up...
...or you MIGHT NOT! You're not likely to break a strong
psychological addiction based on what MIGHT happen. Your mind will work
hard to convince you that it won't happen to you! Instead, list health
problems that you are already experiencing.
Your list should point out things in your life that you are
actively unhappy about and are STRONGLY MOTIVATED to change. In order
to break your psychological addiction, you need an arsenal of new
thoughts and desires that are stronger than your desire to smoke!
Here are the types of things you want to put in column two...
Why Do I Want To Quit Smoking?
1. Health Reasons
- I get so out of breath when I exert myself even a little bit. Just
vacuuming the house makes me pant and gasp.
- My feet are always cold. This could be due to high blood pressure and
poor circulation associated with smoking.
- I have a nasty wet cough and I have to blow my nose way too
often. Mucus build-up is the body's reaction to all the toxins and
chemicals in cigarette smoke and could be a precursor to serious
respiratory disease. Even if I don't get cancer, I don't want to be one
of those people who has to tote oxygen bottles around everywhere.
- I'm always tired. Could it be that my body is using up all its
energy trying to eliminate the toxins and chemicals from cigarettes?
2. Vanity Reasons
- Smoking causes premature aging and drying of the skin. I don't want
to look like a wrinkled up old prune!
- My fingers, fingernails and teeth are all tobacco stained.
Disgusting! How embarrassing.
- When I get on the elevator after a smoke break at work, everyone
wrinkles their nose and tries to edge away from me because I reek of
cigarette smoke. I feel like a pariah. It's embarrassing to always be
the big "stinker" on the elevator. I feel like I have no self-control.
- My breath is awful. Kissing me must be like kissing an ashtray. I
spend a fortune on breath mints.
3. Financial Reasons
- If I save all the money I used to spend on cigarettes, I'll have
enough to take a vacation in Cancun (or some other warm tropical place)
every winter!
- I could use the money to pay off my credit cards!
- I could donate money to my favorite charity or sponsor a child. My
cigarette money could make the world a better place!
4. Family Reasons
- My family can stop worrying about me.
- My spouse will have to find something new to nag me about. Just
kidding, honey!
- My children will be proud of me and (hopefully) they'll never
start smoking themselves, having seen firsthand what a nasty
destructive habit it is.
5. Cleanliness Reasons
- The walls used to be white. Now they're a nasty dirty-looking brown.
I need to repaint... again!
- I stink, my car stinks, my house stinks, everything I own reeks
of cigarette smoke. I can't even lend a book to a non-smoking friend
because they can't stand the smell of smoke permeating the pages!
Do you see yourself in any of the items listed? You may have many
more reasons of your own. Find as many compelling and emotion reasons
to quit smoking as you can think of and write them all down.
If you can re-train your mind to think of smoking as a silly and
self-destructive thing to do, then you're almost sure to succeed. And
if you need something to do with your hands... try knitting!
Author: Arnel
Ricafranca
More
Fitness Articles by Arnel Ricafranca
© Copyright
2005
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