Quitting smoking is very frustrating, chiefly because the best method to quit smoking for one person might not work at all for the next. Every reason that a person begins smoking, every person’s body, and every addiction is different, so there is no reason to expect one quitter’s story to be the same as another’s. If a single method were really the best, then there wouldn’t be any need for there to be so many of them out there. That said, there are some ways to stop smoking that have helped a lot of people through the ages.
The first one is nicotine replacement products. These take care of a big specter that looms in the eyes of many quitters- nicotine withdrawal. Cigarettes are physically addictive, which is part of why quitting them is so difficult. By replacing the nicotine typically gotten from cigarettes with nicotine from a tar-free, smokeless source like gum or patches, people can very gradually reduce their need for the chemical, without having to worry about taking in all of the smoke, tar, and byproducts from tobacco smoking. However, these alone won’t work for everyone, since they don’t cover many of the other aspects of smoking that make it addictive.
Some people swear by psycho or hypnotherapy. Though both of these sciences are extremely different, both of them work by helping the user overcome their addiction mentally. In psychotherapy, professionals help clients understand the reasons they began smoking, and work to eliminate the root cause for the development of the dependency. In hypnotherapy, hypnotists work to help implant the suggestion that the client no longer needs or wants cigarettes into their subconscious mind. The idea is that, during their waking hours, the subconscious will work to influence the person’s behavior, and allow them to reduce their dependence on nicotine.
Still others say that cold turkey is the only real way to quit smoking. However, this method does nothing to take care of the physical and mental addiction that comes with cigarette smoking. Instead, it relies on the smoker’s willpower to fight their cravings and urges to smoke, which means that many followers of this method may find themselves unable to fight off their desire for a cigarette. When this method works, it works well, though it has a very high failure rate.
The best method for many people seems to be a combination of things. A lot of former smokers achieved success by combining nicotine replacement products with some form of mental therapy, and using things like chewing gum, coins, keys, or other small objects to fulfill their desire to have something in their hands or mouths like they use to with cigarettes.
Many methods of quitting smoking can be combined with each other, though users need to be careful never to combine two products that release nicotine. By seeing a therapist to help them overcome the mental aspects of their condition, and either relying on willpower or a nicotine replacement product to help them fight their cravings, smokers can dramatically improve the odds that they will be able to give up cigarettes for good. Therefore, for many people, the best method to quit smoking isn’t a single method at all, it’s a combination of two or three of them that works to satisfy all of the aspects of their addiction.
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