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| | | From: Joel (Original Message) | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:35 PM |
Hello Joel and Members,
A friend turned me on to this website and I have to admit that it is the most educational and directly informational website on smoking addiction I have ever found. I have educated myself about chemical additiction and have quit many times. I can read and comprehend but the problem is that I continously relapse by taking a cigarette from other family members who smoke. Any one with a nicotine habit knows what this means... The intention and drive to quit is there but my resolve seems to be lacking. I find my main relapses occur with stress from work and family issues. I already know the dangers of smoking but I guess I am looking for support in how to overcome that initial urge to just say, the heck with it, I will quit tomorrow. Any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance for your wisdom on this very frustrating situation!!!!!!!!! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:40 PM |
Have you noticed some of these "lost" long-term quits?
Yesterday I saw a number of posts from people who had quit for long time periods in the past before relapsing. I think one was a 20 year quit, others were ten plus years. While this is scary to witness in so many people, it serves a purpose of teaching a very valuable lesson. It shows the addiction to nicotine. What I always thought was the greatest indicator of the addictive nature of nicotine is not how hard it is to quit. I think what better illustrates it is how easy it is to go back. That after being off for months, years, or even decades does not render a person "cured."
Many years ago a man who had once been off smoking for 25 years joined one of my clinics. After that great period of time his daughter developed a case of mononucleosis, and in trying to keep her occupied, he and his wife played pinochle with her for many days straight. He was sitting between the two of them who were constantly smoking. By the third day the tedium of the situation and the constant exposure to their smoke tempted him. He decided he would have a cigarette. After all, he figured he had been off smoking for a quarter of a century--what harm could there be in having one or two cigarettes?
That was 8 years and approximately 117,000 cigarettes smoked before he joined my program. Without understanding the concept of addiction, he allowed himself a cigarette. That resulted in an eight-year and two packs per day addiction. While 25 years would logically seem to be a safe period of time to have permanently broken free from a habit, addiction is a totally different matter. In drug addiction, no period of time makes a person capable of controlled limited use of a substance. Whether it be alcohol, heroin, cocaine, or tobacco, "once an addict always an addict" is an adage which must be understood and lived by. The day it is forgotten the addict will become complacent, and that complacency may cost the addict his continued abstinence, health, and, eventually, his life. It is a high price to pay for a poorly calculated gamble.
While this man may have been off longer than most ex-smokers, his story is in no way unique. In almost every clinic I ever did, at least a quarter of the group had quit for a year or longer. In fact, in the majority of programs we had at least one 5-year-plus ex-smoker enrolled to quit again and even ten-year relapsers were not at all uncommon. These people demonstrated over and over again the danger of taking even one puff, and its ability to cause a full-fledged relapse. The more this phenomenon is witnessed, the more undeniable the concept of one puff being capable of causing a full-fledged relapse becomes.
That is why continued reinforcement is imperative if an ex-smoker wishes to stay free from cigarettes. That is why continuing to occasionally participate at here at Freedom even after quitting for significant time periods is probably a good tool to keep everyone reinforced. Long-term quitters may disassociate themselves from their past, forgetting the level of control once exerted by cigarettes. "Maybe I am different" are famous last thoughts that pass through the ex-smoker's mind before relapsing.
Come witness the shock and disbelief of once successful quitters who are once again desperately trying to quit because they thought they could have just one. The anger, frustration, despair and pain are apparent in them as well as in the first time quitters too. While you may be having occasional passing thoughts for a cigarette as an ex-smoker, these people are experiencing a constant all-consuming obsession toward smoking.
Spending a few minutes reading or even participating in these stories, in all probability will prevent you from becoming the next victim of the complacency that caused their relapse. To avoid ever going through a difficult and possibly insurmountable quitting process yourself, keep up at Freedom and, most importantly, NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:41 PM |
Past Failures
At times we get past Freedom members return to quit again after they have relapsed. Some only had a few days into the last quit, others had significant time periods into quits before losing them. I am glad that they found their ways back to Freedom, but I want to make sure that they understand and that everyone else here understands the seriousness of the past failure.
Most other boards and most other people would take offense at that past line, referring to the last lost quit as a failure. But for all practical purposes that is what it was. Even quits that last for years or decades are failures if a person loses it. We don't want anyone minimizing this fact, for those who do often have the attitude that if they relapse they will simply quit again. The fact is you don't know that the person will quit again, or that they will quit in time to save his or her life.
Many years ago I had a man in my clinic named John. John was a pretty high profile public figure, in his early 40's who had many great accomplishments in his life. He came to my clinic, lasted a few days and lost the quit. He was in the middle of a high profile media situation and just decided he needed his focus and the stakes of what he was involved with at the time were just too high to deal with withdrawal. John explained this to me, and promised he would return again one day when things would be better.
Well, I have heard this hundreds of times before, and while occasionally people do return, it is not the majority and probably not even a significantly high percentage. Being that I was having 50 or more people at a time in these clinics, I couldn't spend much time dealing with those who were not quitting.
Three year later John does return to the clinic and does quit smoking. He did great his second time around. Not only did he quit, but he became a regular volunteer for me, coming to many clinics as a panelist to help people first quitting. He also sent in lots of people, probably 15 to 20 over the next couple of years.
About three years after John's quit, he was going in for a physical and to his surprise there was a small spot on his chest x-ray. When it was biopsied they found out John had cancer. He was about 48 at the time, in the peak of his career, still had children of school age and now was facing this terrible diagnosis. It was a horrible shock to many people. As is often the case with lung cancer, it was a fast deterioration. Within a year and a half John had succumbed to the disease.
I went to John's funeral--it was huge. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there. Many I knew, some because of their high public profile, but more because John had sent in so many people to the clinic in the time period that he was off smoking. Even after the diagnosis he was still sending people in.
One of the men there was from one of the recent clinics and had told me how tragic this was that John had lost his life and how his lost quit was probably the reason. To be realistic I told him that it is possible that if John had quit the first time in the clinic it may not have made a difference. He basically found out he had lung cancer three years after he quit, and that lung cancer could be present for 5 years or even 10 years without presenting symptoms or even showing up on the x-ray. Being that the day I met him was about 6 years before the diagnosis, it was not totally improbable that at that time the cancer had already been initiated and was silently growing.
The man then proceeded to tell me that my clinic was not the first clinic John had tried. That in fact, 10 years before joining that first group with me, he and John had gone to another local clinic together to quit and both in a matter of days wrote it off as a bad time to quit--but knew they would both quit again one day.
Well John was right, he did eventually quit again one day. But it turned out to be over 16 years later. Now the odds were quite different--if he had quit that first time around he probably would never had developed the disease that ultimately cost him his life.
The lesson here needs to be once you have a quit going, do everything in your power to make it last. While you are seeing people come back who just seem to be quitting again, if you relapse you just don't know you will ever get the strength or desire to quit again, and that even if you do, you don't know whether something won't go wrong in the interim period before the next quit.
John is not the only person I know who fits this profile--I know lots of them--people who could have had extra years and extra decades who lost them by minimizing the implications of not quitting or of relapsing. Once you have a quit smoking, understand your very life is contingent on understanding the importance of knowing to never take another puff!
Joel |
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| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:41 PM |
I don't know if I have another quit in me.
Its funny, you will hear many people say and feel sentiments like this the first few weeks into a quit. But over time many lose this feeling and start to think that quitting was no big deal. If ever asked how it was to quit they may even say that it was no big deal and begin to think that if they were ever to go back, they would just quit again. This is a form of complacency and complacency has killed many a quits.
An ex-smoker can get to the point that he or she looks back at smoking as being vile, disgusting, expensive, stupid, crazy, and many other derogatory terms. He or she may think that with what he or she knows and understands now that there is absolutely no way he or she could return to such an unwanted lifestyle. The ex-smoker then knows he or she is secure forever from relapsing--and then the final piece of the illogical puzzle falls into place--that if he or she hates smoking so much, and there is no way he or she will return to smoking--well then a puff here and there can't be a big deal because he or she is so resolute to remain smoke free. That is where the story often tragically ends.
For anyone who ever feels that they are not sure that they have another quit in them, they should be aware that they may be absolutely correct, they don't know that they have another quit in them. But for every member of this group today we know for a fact that you have this one going right now and I suspect you are all pretty sure you can make this one last through the rest of the day. This is the one you want to cultivate now for it is likely the one that has the best chance to work and it is definitely the one that has the best chance of avoiding the potentially lethal consequences of smoking.
For if this quit didn't take but maybe a few months from now or a few years from now the next one would, you still don't know that one of the cigarettes you smoked in that intervening time period didn't start up some deadly irreversible process. This factor again is another reason that you should do everything in your power to make this quit stick. To make this quit the quit that sticks and saves your health and your life always remember to never take another puff!
Joel |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:43 PM |
"I guess I am doing OK"
"Well, I guess I am doing OK. I took a cigarette yesterday. I don't know why. I'm just not sure what I want to do yet." This comment came from a twenty-five year, two pack a day smoker, who had quit three weeks earlier.
He couldn't tell why he took the cigarette. It wasn't under stress or at a party. He was just sitting home and wanted one. So he took it. No big deal, right. Wrong--DEAD WRONG.
This man would not accept the fact of his addiction. While his initial comments indicated that possibly he did not want to stop, further inquiries demonstrated this man really wanted to stay off. I asked him if he really wished to go back to 40 cigarettes a day. He said "No way, I never want to smoke that way again. But I still want a cigarette every now and then."
Every ex-smoker faces the same dilemma as this man. The desire for one, repulsed by the idea of smoking at the old level. But under the laws of addiction, smoking is an all or nothing proposition.
Due to his addiction there is no such thing as one. While he may not have been sure of whether or not he wished to stay off cigarettes, he was positive that he did not want to go back to his old level. Since he did not wish to smoke two packs a day, taking this first cigarette was a mistake.
Within a short time he was again smoking at his old level. And to this day, almost three years later, he is still hooked on cigarettes. If you ever question your resolve about staying an ex-smoker, consider the alternative--smoking at your old level, or even possibly more than you used to before you quit.
Viewing smoking like this probably doesn't seem appealing to you. But no matter how much you desire never to smoke that way again, you will lose all choice over the matter if you experiment with a cigarette. The addiction controlled you once. It will control you again. And this time, you may never be able to break its powerful grip. Don't take that chance. NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:44 PM |
The Law of Addiction
Smokers are often furious with me because they believe I caused them to go back to smoking. Why do they think this? Well, I have this nasty habit of making a really big deal any time a clinic participant takes one puff or maybe just a few cigarettes. The smoker feels I am so persuasive in my arguments that he has no choice but to have a full-fledged relapse. In his opinion, I forced him back to the life-time dependency which will impair his health and may eventually cost him his life. He is convinced that if I had not made such a major issue out of the incident, he would just have smoked that one time and would never have done it again. How can I sleep each night knowing what I have done?
I sleep quite well, thank you. For, you see, I am not responsible for these people's relapses to cigarettes. They can take full credit for becoming smokers again. They relapsed because they broke the one major law of nicotine addiction - they took a puff. This is not my law. I am not setting myself up to be judge, jury, and executioner. The law of physiological addiction states that administration of a drug to an addict will cause reestablishment of the dependence on that substance. I didn't write that law. I don't execute that law. My job is much simpler than that. All I do is interpret the law. This means, by taking a puff, the smoker either goes back to full-fledged smoking or goes through the withdrawal process associated with quitting. Most don't opt for the withdrawal.
Every clinic has a number of participants who have quit in the past for one year or longer. In fact, I had one clinic participant who had stopped for a period of 24 years before he relapsed. He never heard that such a law existed, that even after 24 years, the ex-smoker is not totally freed from his imprisonment of addiction. He didn't understand that the day he tossed his "last" cigarette, he was placed "on probation" for the rest of his life. But ignorance of the law is not excusable - not the way the laws of a physiological nature are written. By the American standards of justice, this seems to be cruel and unusual punishment. But this is the way things are.
Maybe instead of going to a smoking clinic, a recently relapsed person should contact his attorney to plead his case of why he should be able to have an occasional cigarette when he desires. Maybe he can cheat just once, get a sympathetic jury, be judged innocent, and walk out of the courtroom a free and independent person. Surely, in pleading his case before twelve impartial people, he will probably have no problem convincing them that he is innocent of any wrong doing. And, as he happily walks out of court a free and independent person, he will probably have an uncontrollable urge and then light a cigarette.
Don't look for loop-holes in the law of addiction. You will be convicting yourself back to smoking. While it may seem harsh and unfair, to many, smoking is a crime punishable by death. Don't try to cheat the system - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:45 PM |
I Know I Will Quit Again
"I don't know what happened. I just went back to smoking. But I know I will quit again." I often encounter similar remarks from people who relapse to smoking. While the smoker may not recognize what led to the relapse, the reason is obvious to anyone understanding addiction. The person took a drag on a cigarette.
While the situation that causes the first puff varies, the end result is inevitably the same. The first puff causes a second. It may be a minute, a day or even a week later. In some extreme cases even a longer time will pass. But the length of time is not important. The addictive process has been set into motion. Either the smoker becomes hooked immediately or gets a false sense of confidence leading to another drag, and still another. Eventually the addiction will be reinforced, and once again the smoker is hooked to the deadly substance--nicotine.
So what about the idea that the smoker will just quit again some other time? There are two flaws in this concept. First, the smoker may never again get the desire, strength or opportunity to quit. When dealing with deadly substances, death may result and, sometimes, without advance warning.
But, often, the smoker does have the opportunity to quit again. The only problem is that if he didn't understand what prompted relapse the first time, the odds are he will make the same mistake again. Once again he will face the same problem--addicted and unable to quit smoking.
If a person is enslaved in this process of on-again-off-again smoking, he must take time to consider what his particular problem is. His past attempts failed because he refused to treat cigarette smoking as an addiction. It is said that those who don't learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. Nowhere is this more evident than in dealing with addictions. If he doesn't consider the consequences of taking the first puff, he will take it. And once again his noble attempt will be wasted.
Smokers and ex-smokers must learn from their own or better yet from other people’s mistakes. Quitting smoking is worthwhile if you are able to stay off. All the physical, psychological, social and financial benefits will last only as long as you remain free of cigarettes. If you don't smoke now, great! You understand your addiction. If you do smoke now, quit. You too will overcome the powerful grip of nicotine. Then, all you need to remember to stay permanently free is NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:46 PM |
I Have to Smoke Because of All My Stress!
Stress is considered a cause for smoking by many people. Actually, smoking is a cause of stress. Recent correspondence dealt with reasons people give for going back to smoking: social situations, parties, alcohol consumption and stress. This month I wish to amplify on stress.
In January of 1979, Chicago and vicinity was devastated by a major blizzard. Heavy snows fell just after the New Year crippling the area. Additional snowfall continued throughout the week. During this time period I was barraged with phone calls from participants of the November, 1978 clinic claiming to be terribly nervous, upset and anxious from "not smoking." Curiously, most of them were feeling well during the month of December. They had occasional urges which lasted only seconds and were quite easy to overcome. What they were experiencing in January was different. Many felt that they were on the verge of cracking up. To them life was "just no good" without their cigarettes. Was the anxiety they were now experiencing really a side effect from giving up smoking?
To any outside observer the answer to the mysterious intensification of perceived withdrawal was obvious. In fact, if our ex-smokers listened to radio or television or read the front page of any newspaper, they would have encountered a story on cabin fever. By simply comparing their symptoms with those accompanying cabin fever they would understand what was happening.
Attributing the anxiety to smoking cessation was transference of blame. In fact, they were having a normal reaction to an abnormal situation - confinement due to the blizzard. They would have had the same anxiety whether or not they had given up cigarettes.
The above story illustrates an atypical time period in which numerous people experience similar complaints. In everyday life inherent problems exist. Work, family, friends, and money can all contribute to daily distress. Ex-smokers often think that if they just take a cigarette during a stressful episode the situation will be solved. For example, consider a person who finds he has a flat tire in a parking lot during a freezing rain. When encountering this kind of misfortune, the ex-smoker's first reaction often is, "I need a cigarette." What will actually solve this problem is changing the tire, and driving off in a warm car. What would a cigarette do to help this situation? It only makes the person see the flat tire longer and freeze more. This adds up to greater frustration. The first puff will probably reinforce the addiction to cigarettes which is a much greater crisis than the flat tire ever was. In fact, taking the first puff almost always results in a bigger problem than the crisis that "caused" them to take the puff. Even in a real catastrophe, such as a death in the family, injuries, illnesses, flooding resulting in major property loss, bankruptcy and so on, a cigarette will not solve the problem. It will just add another major problem to the originally bad situation.
Remember, smoking cannot solve problems of daily living. No matter what the problem, there is a more effective way of solving it than smoking. In fact, a smoker's health risks are a real problem that can only be solved if they - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:46 PM |
How would you deal with the following situations?
Your 2-year-old is having a temper tantrum because he wants a new toy. Would you;
1. Leave him alone until he calmed down
2. Give into his demands
3. Give him a tranquilizer
Your 7-year-old is anxious about next weeks' Little League tryouts. Would you;
1. Assure him that he can do it
2. Practice with him and tell him to try his best
3. Give him a valium every three hours until the game
Your 14-year-old is crushed when she is not asked to the sophomore dance. Would you;
1. Fix her up with one of your friend's children
2. Tell her to go anyway
3. Give her cocaine to pick up her spirits
Your 15-year-old is self-conscious about being 5 pounds overweight. Would you;
1. Cook lower calorie meals
2. Enroll her in a diet or exercise program
3. Put her on appetite suppressants
All of these young people are experiencing what adults would consider "growing pains." A little time, patience and positive reassuring will help them overcome all of these difficult situations.
The fact is, as long as anyone continues to develop physically, emotionally, intellectually, professionally or spiritually, they too will experience growing pains. Adults are prone to hurt, pain, sadness, depression and anxiety just as children are. These feelings are all necessary if we wish to continue to develop our minds and bodies. Without such growth, we would not experience happiness, satisfaction, contentment or purpose to their full extent.
The third choice in each of the above situations was, of course, ridiculous. We would not subject our children to chemical hazards to overcome such trivial problems. However, as adults we are fully capable of practicing such dangerous behaviors for our own relief. Take cigarette smoking as an example.
When you were still a smoker, how many times would you say you had to smoke because you were lonely and sad without your friendly cigarettes? How many times did you say that you had to smoke because of all the stress in your life? How many times did you tell yourself that many social activities were just not fun without your cigarettes? How many times did you say that you would gain too much weight if you quit smoking? All you were saying was that you needed nicotine, a drug, to overcome everyday life problems.
It was not until you were off cigarettes that you realized you could overcome such problems without smoking, and in most cases more effectively than when you were a smoker. Once you had quit you realized just how much a source of stress the habit was to you. You were caught by a socially unacceptable and physically deadly addiction and were quite often aware of it. This is when you had the desire to give them up, but thought the pain of quitting too great to even attempt it.
Even today, you probably still desire an occasional cigarette. It may be in a stressful situation, at a party after a few drinks, or at a time when you find yourself alone with nothing better to do. The fact is, there is nothing worse you can do than take a cigarette. One cigarette will not help you over the problem. In reality, it will create a new problem, a disastrous situation of a reinforced addiction, with all the physical dangers and associated dirty habits.
So, next time you have the desire for a cigarette, sit back and take a few moments to reflect upon what you are setting yourself up for. Do you need that drug? Do you want that addiction? If not, simply remember - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:47 PM |
My Support Group is Responsible!
Case 1:
“How do you expect me to quit smoking? All of my family, friends, and work associates smoke. Whenever I try to quit they all try to sabotage my efforts. With support like that, I can't quit smoking!�?
Case 2:
“I know I will quit. Nobody wants me to smoke. My kids beg me to stop, my husband hates it when I smoke, and we're not allowed to smoke at work. I feel like a social outcast wherever I go. With all those people on my back, I know I won't fail in quitting!�?BR>
In both of the above cases, the smoker is wrong in their assessment of whether or not they can actually quit smoking. Success in quitting smoking is not primarily determined by significant others. It is based on the strength of the smoker's own desire to quit.
In case one, the smoker is blaming his failure on lack of support and actual sabotage attempts by others. But not one of these people physically forced a lit cigarette into his mouth and made him inhale. Considering that the only way he could reinforce his nicotine addiction is by inhaling a cigarette, none of his smoking associates had the final say on his success or failure.
Case two, on the other hand, was working under the false assumption that quitting smoking would be a breeze since everybody would support her because they hated her smoking. Not once, though, did she say that she actually wanted to stop for herself. She was stopping because everyone else wanted her to. In essence, she was depriving herself of her cigarettes to make everybody else happy. While she may not have lit up when surrounded by others, sooner or later she would be alone. With no one around, what personal reason does she have to strengthen her resolve not to take a cigarette?
When you joined our clinic, you may have initially blamed others for your failure or erroneously credited the clinic and others with your success. No one failed or succeeded for you. You did it. While significant others can influence how easy or difficult quitting will be, your own personal resolve is the major determinant of success or failure.
If you failed when you tried in the past, stop blaming others. Realize that your personal desire to stop was not strong enough to overcome the powerful grip cigarettes exerted on you. Rather than making one half hearted attempt after another, make a personal assessment of why you smoke and why you wish to stop. If your personal reasons are good enough, then try to stop. As long as your ammunition is strong, no one will be able to make you smoke.
On the other hand, if you quit, don't feel that the clinic or any one else made you do it. You broke free from a powerful addiction. You did it by making up your own mind, throwing out your cigarettes, and refusing to take another one no matter how much temptation you faced. For this you should be proud. And to maintain that pride for the rest of your life - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:49 PM |
You Smoke Because You're A Smoke-a-holic!
Some smokers say they smoke because they are nervous. Others say they smoke to celebrate. Some think they smoke for energy. Many smoke to look sexy. Yet others smoke to stay awake or to sleep. Some think they smoke to think. One truly unique smoker once told me she smoked to breathe better. Another once said she returned to smoking when experiencing chest pains. She figured the fear of a heart attack is enough to make anyone smoke. None of these reasons satisfactorily explain why people continue smoking. However, the answer is, in fact, quite simple. Smokers smoke cigarettes because they are smokers. More precisely, smokers smoke cigarettes because they are smoke-a-holics.
A smoke-a-holic, like any other drug addict, has become hooked on a chemical substance. In the cigarette smoker's case, nicotine is the culprit. He is at the point where the failure to maintain a minimum level of nicotine in his blood stream leads to the nicotine abstinence syndrome, otherwise known as drug withdrawal. Anything that makes him lose nicotine makes him smoke.
This concept explains why so many smokers feel they smoke under stress. Stress has a physiological effect on the body which makes the urine acidic. Whenever the urine becomes acidic, the body excretes nicotine at an accelerated rate. Thus, when a smoker encounters a stressful situation he loses nicotine and goes into drug withdrawal. Most smokers feel that when they are nervous or upset cigarettes help calm them down. The calming effect, however, is not relief from the emotional strain of the situation, but actually the effect of replenishing the nicotine supply and ending the withdrawal. It is easy to understand why the smoker without this basic knowledge of stress and its nicotine effect is afraid to give up smoking. They feel that they will be giving up a very effective stress management technique. But once they give up smoking for a short period of time, they will become calmer, even under stress, than when they were smokers.
The explanation of how physiological changes in the body make smokers smoke is difficult for some smokers to believe. But nearly all smokers can easily relate to other situations which also alter the excretion rate of nicotine. Ask a smoker what happens to their smoking consumption after drinking alcohol, and you can be sure they will answer that it goes up. If asked how much their consumption rises, they will normally reply that it doubles or even triples when drinking. They usually are convinced that this happens because everyone around them is smoking. But if they think back to a time when they were the only smoker in the room, they will realize that drinking still caused them to smoke more. Alcohol consumption results in the same physiological effect as stress - acidification of the urine. The nicotine level drops dramatically, and the smoker must light one cigarette after another or suffer drug withdrawal.
It is important for the smoker considering quitting to understand these concepts because once they truly understand why they smoke they will be able to more fully appreciate how much more simple their life will become as an ex-smoker.
Once the smoker stops, nicotine will begin to leave their body and within two weeks all the nicotine will be gone. Once the nicotine is totally out of the body, all withdrawal will cease. No longer will they experience drug withdrawal states whenever encountering stress, drinking, or just going too long without smoking. In short, they will soon realize that all the benefits they thought they derived from smoking were false effects. They did not need to smoke to deal with stress, or to drink, socialize, or work. Everything they did as a smoker they can do as a non-smoker, and in most cases they will now do these activities more efficiently and feel better during them.
They will become a more independent people. It is a good feeling and a major accomplishment to break free from this addiction. But no matter how long they are off smoking and how confident they feel, the ex-smoker must always remember that they are a smoke-a-holic.
Being a smoke-a-holic means that as long as they don't take a single drag off a cigarette, cigar or pipe, or chew tobacco, or inject it into their bloodstream with a syringe, they will never again become hooked on nicotine. If, on the other hand, they do make the tragic mistake of experimenting with any nicotine product, they will reinforce their addiction. This will result either in returning to their old level of consumption or experiencing a full fledged withdrawal process. Neither situation is fun to go through.
So, once off of smoking, the ex-smoker must always remember just who and what they are - a smoke-a-holic for the rest of their life. Remembering this, you can remain truly independent from nicotine by following one simple practice - Never Take Another Puff! |
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Reply
| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/31/2006 2:50 PM |
"Never Take Another Puff!"
I said it every day of the clinics, it's in almost all my posts, and you see it at the end of each of these short articles. Even so, I still feel I cannot repeat it enough - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! It is not that I am afraid that you will like the cigarette and decide how wonderful going back to smoking will be. To the contrary, it will probably make you dizzy, nauseous, and generally sick. You may absolutely hate yourself for having done it. Even this, though, is not the problem.
The real danger is the reinforcement of the nicotine addiction. It is a powerful addiction. One puff can send you back to your old level of cigarette consumption within days. We have had clinic participants who have previously quit smoking for periods exceeding 20 years. One day they decide to try just one. Even after this great period of time, the first cigarette is enough to start the whole addiction withdrawal process. They are again hooked on a drug, and within days the full habit returns. All of the physical dangers, psychological problems, and tremendous expenses return to their previous levels. If you do not believe this can happen to you, come into the first or second night of my next stop smoking clinic. Listen to all of the new enrollees who are there to quit smoking. These are people who were once off cigarettes for a substantial period of time before, people who liked not smoking, people who loved not smoking, people who now need help to once again reclaim their nonsmoking status because of one tragic mistake. They were not immune to the first drag. The odds are, neither are you. Consider this the next time you have a passing thought for a cigarette.
Now you have a choice. You can remain an ex-smoker or you can become an addicted smoker once again. Consider both options carefully. Which way of life better suits you - a slave to a deadly weed or a truly free person? The final decision is yours. If you choose the latter, simply practice the following advice - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! |
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| | | From: Joel | Sent: 5/5/2007 12:09 PM |
| Video Title | Dial-Up | HS/BB | | Length | Added | | "If I relapse I'll smoke until it kills me" | 1.58mb | 04.4mb | | 05:11 | 02/25/07 | |
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