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 advice to quit smoking. However, is it possible to get rid of the habit of smoking on your own, and what problems can arise in this case?
Is quitting cigarettes dangerous?
It is widely believed that a sharp cessation of smoking leads to exacerbations of chronic diseases, the occurrence of heart attacks, as well as significant weight gain. Partly so it also is. A person with many years of smoking experience may experience some malaise when quitting a bad habit - this is due to the fact that nicotine is built into the autonomic nervous system and takes part in the life process of the body.
That is why with a sharp restriction of 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 cannot do this without the help of a doctor and the use of special means.
When a person is psychologically ready and wants to quit smoking himself, 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 the elderly, with poor health, it is better to use psychological and medical support.
What happens if you quit smoking?
A person who quits smoking may notice a noticeable malaise. What exactly should he expect?
- It is possible to weaken the immune system, so there may be an exacerbation of chronic diseases.
- There is a cough, especially in the morning.
- There is an increase in weight. Most often this happens due to the fact that a person replaces the habit of smoking a cigarette with an equally bad habit of chewing something. Therefore, if a person is used to smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day, now it turns into 10-15 snacks, which, of course, is reflected in the figure.
- There may be bouts of bad mood and irritability due to the fact that you have to limit yourself in some way. Constant thinking about how not to break loose often leads to absent-mindedness and inattention.
The negative effects can be significantly mitigated if smoking cessation is supervised by a specialist. The doctor can always provide the necessary psychological and medical assistance. But still, the main role in the process of quitting smoking is played not by medicines, but by the conscious desire of a person to quit smoking. If he does this not of his own free will, but at the direction of a doctor or at the insistence of his relatives, the process is different.
If a person himself is not psychologically ready for such an action, he will use any means: a nicotine patch, candy pills, an argument or a promise. However, in the end, a breakdown will surely occur, because the subconscious mind is persistently looking for a reason and an opportunity to smoke. A person 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 quit smoking abruptly?
It is quite possible to quit smoking abruptly, and it is much more effective than dragging out parting with a cigarette over time. Such an approach requires willpower and great personal desire. It should be noted that after a sharp cessation of smoking, the percentage of relapses is very small, but with a slow and gradual refusal, some people again return to an unhealthy habit. Therefore, situations are possible that Mark Twain joked about: "Quitting smoking is very easy, I myself have quit a thousand times. "
Tips for quitting smoking on your own
- Keep a diary in which you write down every cigarette you smoke. Once a day (or every other day), shift the time of smoking the next cigarette by 30 minutes, then by 1 hour, then by 2 hours, etc. So you can significantly reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
- Buy cigarettes by the piece, each time reducing their quantity. Also buy less strong cigarettes each time. Gradually, the number of cigarettes will decrease, and their strength will decrease significantly.
- Collect cigarette butts smoked throughout the day so that you can clearly see how much damage you cause to your body every day.
- Calculate how much money you spend on cigarettes per month, per year, for all the time that you smoke. Think about what you could buy with this money, because this is a clear example of the expression "money down the drain. "
- Instead of a smoke break, eat an apple, drink strong tea without sugar or mineral water with lemon, take a walk down the street, do a couple of exercises - this will only benefit your figure and health, and will definitely not contribute to the appearance of extra pounds.