Today they are trying to overcome nicotine addiction with the help of various tricks - e-cigarettes, patches, psychotherapeutic techniques. At the same time, many are thinking about how to quit smoking at home and whether this idea is feasible, because over the years a real dependence on tobacco is formed not only on a physical but also on a psychological level.
The Suffering of the Smoker
It's hard for amateurs to lift today. The state, by taking care of the health of its citizens, has significantly restricted the rights of smokers. And now a large army of fellow citizens addicted to tobacco is forced to snuggle in designated smoking areas, to leave the usual "smoking rooms" at the entrances, to suffer from nicotine "hunger" when visiting various institutions.
And then there is a new law on the road - a smoking ban is proposed less than 10 meters from the entrance, as downstairs residents complain about the tobacco house entering the premises from the street. Can you imagine the picture - a respectable father of the family leaves the house, runs 10 meters from the entrance and hides in the bushes to smoke? One thing remains - to smoke at home, that is, to endanger the health of loved ones.
In this situation, even an experienced smoker thinks about how to break a long-term habit. As he winds up, he remembers how much money literally dissolves in the air along with the tobacco smoke. After all, a pack of cigarettes has risen in price several times over the years, and the quality of tobacco products has dropped in the same proportion, and instead of the usual aroma of cigarette tobacco, it now smells of manure. In addition, health fails - a dry cough in the morning tears the lungs, the pressure rises and the heart plays jokes.
Sighing resignedly, the person decides to give up the bad habit. But how do you quit smoking on your own if you don't have the willpower and any stressful situation is troubling? A real "withdrawal" begins, the hand itself reaches for a cigarette, and the body requires a "soothing" dose of nicotine, otherwise the people around are forced to communicate with an inadequate person who reacts with irritation to any trifles. In response, the lucky ones who managed to quit smoking said that the main thing is motivation.
Motivation to quit smoking
Experienced smokers themselves understand that their addiction is not physical, but psychological. Cigarette gives confidence, helps to relax, calm down, think about your actions in stressful situations. The daily ritual is becoming a habit and now the morning cup of coffee is unthinkable without nicotine "recharging".
At the same time, a person understands that smoking has a serious impact on his health, but he cannot give up the bad habit. Any confidential conversations on this topic, requests from relatives, an example of friends who have parted with cigarettes, will not have the desired effect until the person realizes his problem.
Good to know You can quit smoking only when you want to! One must motivate oneself to fight smoking and come to terms with one's subconscious, which plays a key role in addiction. An example is the story of two men.
The first of them smokes for many years, automatically noting that after each cigarette smoked a characteristic cough appears, in the morning the heart is lubricated and viscous sputum leaves the lungs. Gradually, he begins to realize that the smell of cigarettes and smoky clothes disgusts him. As a result, one day he simply realized that he did not need it and gave up tobacco forever and without the accompanying "withdrawals" and damage.
Another successful young man, with 10 years of smoking experience, succumbed to his wife's beliefs and pressure from relatives and was determined to "quit. "For several weeks he could not take a cigarette in his hands, but as soon as he reached an event with alcohol, his subconscious removed the restriction and he smoked again with delight and returned to his old habit until the next attempt to deal with the tobacco monster.
How to motivate yourself to quit smoking, which method is considered the most effective and will help you cope with the psychological dependence on smoking at home? Let's look at the most popular techniques.
How to quit smoking alone without pills?
For starters you need a proper mental attitude. If you are determined to give up a bad habit, try to follow 5 basic guidelines:
- Don't listen to advice on quitting smoking. Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked will not solve the problem. You need to quit smoking immediately, at once, without stretching your decision indefinitely.
- Get rid of any items that remind you of addiction - send the remaining cigarettes to the trash, remove the ashtray, lighter, matches. Send clothes that smell of tobacco smoke, laundry
- Review your habits and be aware of the action associated with psychological dependence. If your morning cigarette was associated with a cup of coffee, replace it with tea. If a party with alcohol or friendly gatherings is unthinkable without the traditional breaks, give them up for a while. Better yet, make a bet with your friends that you won't touch a cigarette for the next 10-15 years. Just put something really valuable to you online.
- Do not succumb to provocations and the opinion of "knowledgeable" people who claim that it is impossible to abruptly quit an experienced smoker, because latent diseases will appear immediately. On the contrary, every day the internal organs and lungs will be gradually cleansed of nicotine and tobacco toxins, as a result of which health will improve.
- Motivate yourself to fight smoking, realize all the "minuses" of the bad habit, make sure that the rejection of tobacco comes from within, it will help get rid of nicotine addiction on a subconscious level.
The main stages of motivation are the awareness of the harm of smoking and the degree of threat to one's own health, which can be supported by a full medical examination and watching videos about the severe consequences of long-term tobacco use.
Popular methods of quitting smoking
So you've decided to quit smoking and consider a variety of options to help you get through a difficult period of damage. In this case, simple tricks that do not require a visit to the doctor, purchase of drugs and special material costs will help.
How to give up a man at home?
There are several popular techniques for developing aversion to smoking, one of which is called:
Four fragrant breaths
- It is necessary to intensify and fix the maximum sensations when inhaling tobacco smoke. To do this, you need to inhale the tobacco smoke and hold it in your mouth for at least 30 seconds while making chewing movements with your mouth closed.
- After half a minute you can let smoke into your lungs. In this case, there is a desire to cough. Don't resist him, cough.
- Using the same technique, take 2 more breaths while chewing the smoke and holding it in your mouth.
- For the fourth time, just draw lungs full of smoke and then slowly cough it up, squeezing your abdominal muscles. Then write on the packet the time when you took "fragrant breaths" and no longer smoke.
If you have an unbearable urge to smoke, repeat the chewing smoke procedure and try to increase the intervals between such sessions. Soon the body will react to the cigarette with disgust, and the desire to smoke will evaporate.
Milk cigarettes
This technique builds a strong aversion to tobacco. It is enough to soak the cigarettes with milk or fermented milk drinks and dry them well. Their taste is disgusting, so smoking them for more than 5-7 days is impossible. During this time, a special reflex develops that causes rejection of any tobacco products.
Substitution method
This is a much better way to replace cigarettes with various tasty substitutes. As soon as you feel the urge to smoke, immediately put a lollipop, chewing gum, a bar of chocolate in your mouth or eat seeds and nuts. This method is more suitable for men because it has a side effect that is unacceptable for women - weight gain. But in this case, you can avoid gaining extra pounds by replacing sweets with natural candied fruits (such as pineapple) or dried fruits.
Pain stimulus
Regular wristband can instantly bring the ex-smoker in when they have an uncontrollable urge to smoke a cigarette. All you have to do is click on the rubber band on your hand and the thoughts of smoking turn into painful sensations. With strong motivation, this is quite an effective way to prevent relaxation.
How can a girl quit smoking on her own?
Many psychologists note that the fairer sex is much more motivated to quit smoking than men. And this is not surprising, because smoking affects the appearance in the most unfavorable way.
Yellow teeth from plaque, bad complexion, hoarse, smoky voice, smell of tobacco from clothes and hair do not give a woman charm. Such a lady would rather alienate the man than attract his attention. In addition, nicotine has a very negative effect on reproductive function and can cause fetal defects if a pregnant woman smokes. Therefore, women are much more successful in overcoming the thirst for bad habits and returning to a healthy lifestyle. What methods help them in this?
Nicotine patch
You can buy such a patch in any pharmacy. It is glued to the forearm or the outside of the thigh. They change records every day. The nicotine from the patch penetrates the skin and deceives the body, suppressing the desire to smoke. 
On average, the course of treatment takes about a month; nicotine concentration should be reduced each week. For the same purpose, you can switch to nicotine gum, herbal cigars and similar substitutes.
Electronic cigarettes
For many, vaporizers (e-cigarettes) have become a real salvation from nicotine addiction. It's even fashionable to be a vaper now. Instead of tobacco, such devices contain a special liquid that evaporates from the surface of the heating element and turns into a cloud of aromatic vapors that resembles tobacco smoke. This is a real find for a smoker with a strong psychological dependence, as all signs of smoking remain, but without the harmful nicotine component.
Tablets and drops
Nicotine cravings can be relieved with medication. To do this, take Tabex or Nicorette tablets. The dosage of the drugs and the duration of the course of administration should be determined by the physician. These drugs gradually reduce the desire to smoke and form aversion to nicotine.
Another drug, Tabamex, recently appeared on the pharmaceutical market. This innovative drug against nicotine addiction is available in the form of drops and gel. For many smokers, the drug has become a real lifesaver, which discourages the desire to smoke without the accompanying side effects - overweight or mental instability.
The preparation contains a complex of vitamins and extracts of medicinal plants, the action of which is aimed at reducing the need for nicotine. Consumers note that taking the drops almost immediately discourages the urge to smoke, and the gel removes yellow plaque on the teeth and removes the smell of tobacco. One course of therapy is sufficient to achieve the desired effect. For now, you can order the drug only on the manufacturer's website, it is not sold in pharmacies.
Acupuncture
Psychological dependence on nicotine is formed at the level of the reflex fixed in the cerebral cortex. During the acupuncture procedure, the reflexologist acts on certain points that break the chain of impulses going to the brain and thus suppress the desire to smoke. After only a few sessions, a person stops experiencing nicotine cravings and can soon easily cope without addiction.
Neurolinguistic programming method
Judging by the reviews, this is one of the most effective methods, but only if the person himself has decided to quit smoking, and the procedure is performed by a professional practicing this method. In fact, it is a simple hypnosis that reprograms the mind. As a result, the negative attitude changes to a positive one and a person abandons a habit that is harmful to health.
Of course, all the above techniques are suitable not only for women but also for men. In addition to these options, various folk remedies can be used to relieve the desire for nicotine.
Folk recipes
To reduce tobacco dependence, herbalists suggest using the following recipes:
Oats
The old grandfather's way of mixing tobacco with dried oats, ground to a powder, helps well with tobacco addiction.
But today no one smokes hand-rolled cigarettes and pouring tobacco from the cigarette, mixing it with the desired ingredient and then filling the shells is a long and grim process. That is why it is better to use a decoction of oats. To prepare it, grind oatmeal and add 1 tbsp. l. powder in a glass of lukewarm boiled water. Leave the composition to infuse overnight, boil in the morning, strain and drink instead of tea.
Anti-tobacco rubber
Peel, chop and mix fresh horseradish root with an equal amount of chopped plantain leaves. Then spoon this mixture into your mouth and chew. The released juice should be swallowed and the dry residue should be spit out. In this way you can drown the urge to smoke and avoid relapse. For the same purpose you can use branches of bird cherries, blackcurrants, ginger root or calamus.
Rinses
Mouthwash with soda or saline is recommended to combat nicotine cravings in the early days of withdrawal. As soon as there is an irresistible urge to smoke, you should rinse your mouth with a solution prepared in the amount of 1 tbsp. soda or salt in 200 ml of warm boiled water.
Pros of living without cigarettes
When you quit smoking, the first week is the hardest thing to do, and then it will be much easier. Along with cigarette smoke, diseases will disappear, health, mood will improve and soon you will notice the following positive results:
- shortness of breath and dry cough of a smoker will disappear;
- free breathing will return, the lungs will be cleared of toxic substances;
- the risk of cardiovascular and oncological diseases will be significantly reduced;
- chronic pathologies of the upper respiratory tract will disappear;
- the functions of the immune system are normalized, the body's defenses are restored;
- mood will rise, the nervous system will strengthen;
- complexion, skin and hair condition will improve;
- yellow tobacco plaque will clean your teeth;
- efficiency and mental activity will increase, as the brain will not suffer from hypoxia;
- the unpleasant smell of tobacco from the clothes will disappear;
- Finally, significant savings in the family budget will be a nice bonus.
Because of this list of benefits, it is worth considering quitting smoking. In addition, a healthy lifestyle, snow-white smiles, a fresh complexion and other evidence of excellent health, which is absolutely incompatible with smoking, are currently in vogue.
Reviews of smoking cessation methods
Review # 1
Smokes for more than 20 years, smokes his first cigarette as a teenager. At that time, the cigarette was a symbol of independence for me, it gave me authority in the eyes of others. Over the years, health problems began, youth left, but the habit remained. When doctors warned that there were problems with blood vessels and it could all end in a stroke, I seriously considered quitting smoking.
I tried many medications - from nicotine patches and pills to e-cigarettes, but I kept failing. In the end, the smoking drug Cytisine helped me. As he cut off. Now even the smell of cigarettes is disgusting.
Review # 2
Quit smoking two years ago. My wife and I were expecting our first child at the time, and she just couldn't stand the smell of tobacco. Even if I used toothpaste right away, my clothes and hair were still soaked with smoke. I myself have long been thinking about how to say goodbye to a bad habit.
In the end, I just gave myself a set of instructions, but I didn't give up abruptly, and gradually reduced the number of cigarettes I smoked. When I got to 2 a day, I noticed that I hardly smoked. And there was no time for smoking - work, part-time work, family, a small child. As a result, I just forgot about cigarettes and now I am completely indifferent to smoking.