How to Quit Smoking
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How to Quit Smoking
Smoking has been practiced since ancient times. Although there are numerous warnings against smoking cigarettes, many individuals are addicted to it for various reasons. Teenagers, for example, smoke cigarettes because they perceive it as fun, looking cool, and assisting them in their studies. Although most of the individuals perceive smoking as harmless, scientific evidence shows that it has detrimental impacts and can cause cancer. The use and second-hand exposure of tobacco are responsible for over 480,000 deaths per year in the United States (Prasad, Kaisar & Cucullo, 2017). Quitting smoking is not an easy task that happens imminently, it’s a process, and a journey. Quitting smoking enables one to improve their health and enhance their duration and quality of life. In order to quit smoking, an individual has to change his/her behavior and deal with the withdrawal symptoms of reducing nicotine. There are several ways a cigarette addicted individual can utilize to quit smoking, such as utilizing non- nicotine and nicotine replacements, managing cigarette cravings, using Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and seeking behavioral support.
One of the initial steps in the process of quitting smoking is preparation for the quit day. Once an individual is ready to quit smoking, it is very crucial to set a quit date. The date chosen should not be very far, but it gives one sufficient time to prepare. There are a couple of ways to quit smoking on the chosen date. An individual may opt to reduce or quit smoking gradually until the set date and quit or continue smoking until the quit date and stop immediately. While preparing for a successful quit day, an individual can tell co-workers, family, and friends about the smoking quit date, throw away all ashtrays and cigarettes. An individual can also set up a support system like family members who have successfully quit smoking and ensure that individual smoking does not come round.
On the quit day, an individual should not smoke at all, be busy, drink little or no alcohol, take a lot of juice and water, avoid associating with individuals who smoke, and utilize the NRTS. During quit day, an individual will almost feel the urge to smoke several times during the day, but it will pass. However, there are some of the actions that may assist one to cope with the urge to smoke. First, you can delay the smoking carving until it is over. The urge to smoking often comes and passes within 3-5 minutes. Secondly, an individual can take a deep breath. Visualize lungs filling with fresh air. Breathe in slowly through the nose, count one to three before exhaling through the mouth. Other actions that can assist include drinking water sip by sip to curb cravings and to engage in a busy activity like walking to distract the urge.
The second way of quitting smoking is by utilizing NRTs. Quitting smoking without utilizing therapy, medication, and NRT is the most common way of giving up smoking. However, the success rates of such an attempt are very low as the dependence on nicotine is very strong. Using NRTS can enable an individual to smoke withdrawal symptoms. NRTs lower the withdrawal symptoms and cravings that an individual may experience and hampers their attempt to quit smoking. NRT wean an individual body off the cigarette and ensure there is a controlled supply of nicotine. It also spares an individual from exposure to other chemicals in tobacco.
Considering non-nicotine medications also play a crucial role in quitting smoking. The Food and Drug Administration approved Varenicile and bupropion nicotine-containing drugs to assist smokers in quitting. Varenicline impacts the nicotine receptors in the brain, thus reduces the pleasure an individual can get from tobacco use and reduce the withdrawal symptoms (Murphy et al., 2017). Bupropion interferes with chemicals in the brain that plays a significant role in nicotine craving, thus lowering the cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. However, there are some risks involved in the utilization of these non- nicotine medications, including suicidal thoughts, hostility, aggression, depressed mood, and behavioral changes (Murphy et al., 2017).
After quit day, the physical and emotional dependence on smoking makes it very difficult to keep off smoking. To successfully quit, an individual has to cope with this dependence. One of the ways of dealing with it is by seeking behavioral support. Support services, self-help materials, and counseling services help one get through this time. Support groups or individual counseling can play a significant role in improving one’s chances of long term smoke quitting. Behavioral support ranging from individual counseling online, by phone, in-person to advise groups, and written information helps enhance smoking quit rates (Hartmann‐Boyce et al., 2019).
In conclusion, most individuals are addicted to smoking. Altering behaviors and coping with withdrawal symptoms is the key to quitting smoking. The initial step of quitting vis by va future quit date. The combination of different methods, such as using NRT, non- nicotine medication like bupropion, and varenicline, with behavioral support, helps increase the chances of quitting smoking.
References
Hartmann‐Boyce, J., Hong, B., Livingstone‐Banks, J., Wheat, H., & Fanshawe, T. R. (2019). Additional behavioural support as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6).
Murphy, C. M., MacKillop, J., Martin, R. A., Tidey, J. W., Colby, S. M., & Rohsenow, D. J. (2017). Effects of varenicline versus transdermal nicotine replacement therapy on cigarette demand on quit day in individuals with substance use disorders. Psychopharmacology, 234(16), 2443-2452.
Prasad, S., Kaisar, M. A., & Cucullo, L. (2017). Unhealthy smokers: scopes for prophylactic intervention and clinical treatment. BMC neuroscience, 18(1), 70.