Quit Smoking Methods

I’ve written about most quit smoking methods in my blogs and articles on this site and other sites. I’ve discussed the relative merits of quitting with and without aids, the use of nicotine replacement therapy and other drugs. I’ve looked at various therapies such as hypnosis and acupuncture. I suppose the main conclusion I’ve made, after all my research, is that whatever works for the individual smoker is fine. After all we are all different and while a particular quitting technique works for some it may not work for all. For me, nicotine replacement therapy worked. My main problem was the physical addiction to nicotine. Of course, every smoker is addicted to nicotine to some degree, but other factors may also be important to the individual smoker such as psychological addiction or other aspects of the smoking habit and therefore dealing solely with the physical addiction won’t do; a mixed strategy may work in these circumstances. A battery of techniques, each separate technique targeting a specific aspect of the smoking habit, may be necessary to finally break free from the deadly habit that is smoking. Chewing nicotine gum for 6 months was the only aid I needed. When the time came, and to my surprise, I found it relatively easy to relinquish the need for nicotine for good.

Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

For those whose austerity is unbending, going it ‘cold turkey’ is the only real way to break free from the smoking habit. The statistics show otherwise. On any given attempt only 5% manage to quit for good. I am full of praise for those who manage to quit by cold turkey. Most who finally manage to quit by this method alone will do so only after a number of failed attempts.

Quitting One Cigarette at a Time….

I would recommend any quit smoking method if it actually helps someone to achieve their aim of becoming long term smoke free. There is one technique however that does not receive my endorsement. It is a variant form of the cold turkey technique but with all its disadvantages and none of its advantages. The technique involves gradually reducing the number of cigarettes smoked each day until you finally quit. So for instance, if you are a two pack a day smoker you would smoke one less cigarette every day. After twenty days you would be down to a pack a day and after forty days you magically become smoke free. Well that’s the theory. In practice things are usually different.

When Does Quitting Begin?

The technique ensures that the quitter remains in a state of chronic nicotine withdrawal. For our hypothetical two pack a day smoker the actual quit date doesn’t start until 40 days after the cutting down process begins. Each succeeding day the smoker has to adapt to less nicotine intake and consequently with each day the period of nicotine cravings and withdrawal become extended. This is really a form of slow torture. Of course not many people who start a gradual reduction in their cigarette intake can maintain it to the end. It is just too easy to convince yourself that today you won’t cut back or that you will change the final quit date to some unspecified day in the distant future. There are few individuals with the iron will necessary to finally quit using the tapering off method. I suspect the percentage of smokers who finally quit by this technique alone is very low indeed.

I suppose the attraction, as a technique, is that it gives the poor smoker the illusion of quitting and that they can continue to smoke during the so called quit process itself. The reality of course is that it prolongs the agony and sets unrealistic goals which are impossible to achieve by all but those possessed of almost superhuman powers. In my opinion, the tapering off method is not a legitimate means off quitting and is not a technique I would recommend to my worst enemy.