According to statistics, 85% of smokers dream of quitting this addiction. This desire intensifies with age, when a person accumulates an impressive "bouquet" of diseases and each visit to the doctor begins with the advice to quit smoking. However, is it possible to get rid of the habit of smoking alone and what problems may arise in this case?
Is it dangerous to quit smoking?
It is widely believed that abrupt cessation of smoking leads to exacerbation of chronic diseases, heart attacks and significant weight gain. This is partly true. A person with many years of experience in smoking may experience some malaise when giving up a bad habit - this is due to the fact that nicotine is embedded in the autonomic nervous system and is involved in the life process of the body.
Therefore, with a sharp reduction in nicotine, the body experiences psychological and physical stress. However, each person has individual characteristics, and the threshold for perceiving the situation is also different. Therefore, there are many people who quit smoking "on the same day", but there are also people who can not do so without the help of a doctor and the use of special means.
When a person is psychologically ready and wants to quit smoking on his own, and his body has sufficient physical health, the process of adaptation to life without cigarettes will pass easily and imperceptibly. But for people who have smoked for more than 30 years, as well as for elderly people in poor health, it is better to use psychological and medical support.
What will happen if you quit smoking?
A person who quits smoking may notice a noticeable malaise. What exactly should he expect?
- Weakening of the immune system is possible, so there may be an exacerbation of chronic diseases.
- There is a cough, especially in the morning.
- There is an increase in weight. This is most often due to the fact that one replaces the habit of smoking a cigarette with an equally bad habit of chewing something. Therefore, if a person is accustomed to smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day, now it turns into 10-15 snacks, which, of course, affects the figure.
- There may be bouts of low mood and irritability due to the fact that you have to limit yourself in some way. Constant thoughts about how not to break away often lead to distraction and inattention.
Adverse effects can be significantly mitigated if smoking cessation is monitored by a specialist. The doctor can always provide the necessary psychological and medical assistance. However, the main role in the process of quitting smoking is played not by drugs, but by a person's conscious desire to quit smoking. If he does this not of his own free will, but on the instructions of a doctor or at the insistence of relatives, the process is different.
If the person himself is not psychologically ready for such an action, he will use any means: nicotine patch, candy pills, dispute or promise. In the end, however, there will certainly be a breakdown, because the subconscious is persistently looking for a reason and opportunity to smoke. Man is constantly in dissonance and this situation depresses him psychologically. In this case, he only gets upset and comes to the conclusion that quitting smoking is extremely difficult.
How to abruptly quit smoking?
It is quite possible to quit smoking abruptly, and this is much more effective than slipping away from a cigarette over time. Such an approach requires will and great personal desire. It should be noted that after abrupt cessation of smoking, the recurrence rate is very small, but with slow and gradual withdrawal, some people return to an unhealthy habit. That's why there are situations that Mark Twain jokes about: "Quitting smoking is very easy, I've quit a thousand times.
Tips on how to quit smoking yourself
- Keep a diary in which you record each cigarette you smoke. Once a day (or every other day), shift the smoking time of the next cigarette by 30 minutes, then by 1 hour, then by 2 hours, etc. This can significantly reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
- Buy cigarettes by the piece, reducing their number each time. Also, buy less strong cigarettes each time. Gradually, the number of cigarettes will decrease and their strength will decrease significantly.
- Collect cigarettes smoked throughout the day so you can clearly see how much damage you are doing to your body each day.
- Calculate how much money you spend on cigarettes per month, per year, for all the time you smoke. Think about what you could buy with this money, because this is a clear example of the expression "money in the channel".
- Instead of a smoking break, eat an apple, drink strong tea without sugar or mineral water with lemon, walk down the street, do some exercise - it will only benefit your figure and health and will definitely not contribute to excess weight.