It’s Never Too Late to Quit Tobacco Addiction

May 31st is observed as World No Tobacco Day across the world for spreading awareness around the ill-effects of tobacco products. It is a well established fact that tobacco is harmful and it causes premature death. The use of tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco can lead to various health problems and increase the risk of serious diseases spoiling the quality of life.

25% of all cancer deaths globally are from tobacco consumption contributing to roughly eight million deaths every passing year. Tobacco products are mainly available in both smoking and smokeless forms. Cigarettes and other smoking forms of tobacco contain 4000 chemicals and 70 carcinogens (American Cancer Society, 2012). Along with various carcinogens it also contains numerous toxic substances, including nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide. Carcinogens are any substances that cause cancer.

Despite knowing the harmful effects of tobacco, people continue to use it. One of the main reasons for this is the presence of nicotine and that makes tobacco addictive. Various socio-cultural, economic, and personal factors play a role for one to start the habit. Smoking is especially a learned social habit and a personal choice. Addiction is marked by the repeated, compulsive seeking or use of a substance despite its injurious effects and unwanted consequences. It can also be a mental or emotional dependence on a substance.

It is never too late to quit the tobacco habit considering there are many benefits even though one is using it for years. The difference can be felt within 20 minutes of quitting the habit. The carbon monoxide present in your blood drops to normal within 24 hours. The lung and the heart function gets back to normal within 2 weeks and many more such transformations begin within the body. In this article we will discuss a few tried and tested ways to successfully quit the use of tobacco.

The five steps to say goodbye to your tobacco habits

This is a simple step by step guide, all you need is a willingness to try.

Set a quit date.

Choose a meaningful or significant day for this. It can be your birthday, an anniversary, an auspicious day, or even the first day of the month. This provides extra motivation and a sense of purpose. If one is highly motivated, they can even select an immediate date rather than waiting for a special one. But remember, it usually takes some time to prepare oneself and be ready for this transition. Heavy smokers should start by reducing the number of daily smokes gradually before deciding the final quit date. Giving up the smoking habit immediately with no treatment support or replacement medications is called ‘Cold turkey’. However, it requires extreme determination and will from the person.

Share the quit plan with friends and family

When one is ready, inform the family and close friends about the plan to quit the habit. By doing so, they will receive additional support and encouragement they need. Tell others how important and the reason for quitting. It’s important to let the colleagues know, it helps in preventing them from temptations and casual invitations to smoke during their usual timings. In fact, one should kindly request if those friends and colleagues can refrain from smoking in their presence. But it may not always be possible, so be ready to simply excuse yourself from the area while you are on this mission to quit. Additionally, it’s beneficial to find an accountability buddy who can help in navigating through these days as strong cravings can be a reality the initial days. But it is not impossible to overcome these challenges if one is following these seemingly small steps, and in a matter of weeks people have come out as real champions in the past.

Identify the triggering factors

It is important to anticipate and understand the triggering factors of your habit. For example, some people may feel the urge to smoke after lunch or during the office break times. Develop an awareness of these triggering factors, try finding alternatives like dark chocolate or chewing gum to replace the habit. Triggers can be of different kinds, it can be specific places or situations, certain activities, feelings, or even people. Your job is to find these triggers and prepare ways to avoid them.

Now that you have a strong determination, do not forget to remove all tobacco & its associated products including lighters and ashtrays from your home, workspace or vehicle and from wherever you usually keep them. Wash all the clothes to get rid of the smell of tobacco. The point is to completely eliminate such triggers from your vicinity to help yourselves and prevent any cravings they might trigger.

Managing the withdrawal symptoms

Some say they smoke to deal with stress. If resisting tobacco cravings is itself stressful, try practising deep breathing or relaxation exercises to reduce the stress. When cravings kick in, try engaging in physical activities or any kind of distractions that can help in taking the mind off them. This can certainly reduce the intensity of the cravings. Drinking water has also proved to be helpful. One can also purposefully delay acting on the craving by diverting the mind into recollecting some pleasant situations. Because, by delaying the response, the craving will eventually subside and disappear within a few minutes. Initially, it may feel like your days are long but it’s important to remind yourself that these urges are only short-lived and if others can do it, you can very well do this too.

These cravings tend to occur frequently in the early days of quitting smoking, but with practice, they will diminish. It is also normal to experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, anger, or irritability — whether they are physical or emotional — try to understand that these symptoms are also temporary and will fade away within just a few days. Tell yourself that you are committed to this mission and there is no going back.

Seek help from health care professional

And one last thing, in case you are finding it too difficult to do it yourself, and you feel you are unable to quit on your own, then there should not be any shame in seeking help from a physician or a tobacco cessation specialist. They can assess the level of nicotine addiction and develop a personalised, step-by-step plan to medically assist you in overcoming the habit. Nicotine replacement therapy has worked well in the past with people with a high level of dependence. If you did not succeed in your previous attempts, do not lose heart, please try again and push yourself harder. Quitting is not an impossible feat, regardless of the level of addiction. Many people have achieved it, all you need is an undefeated willingness to try again until you quit finally.

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