Considering it's an activity that can badly bruise the ego,
failing to quit smoking remains a remarkably popular past-time. So for
those smokers yet to try them out, here are three of the most popular
methods...
1) Identify nicotine as the problem... After
all, nicotine is the addictive ingredient found in cigarettes, right? So
once you've weaned yourself off that, then you'll never want to smoke
again! I mean, why dwell on complicated factors such as the power of
habitual behaviour or the relevance of drug delivery mechanisms, when
you can simply chew some gum or stick a patch onto your arm instead?
There
are solid reasons why independent surveys have shown nicotine
replacement therapies to succeed in as few as 3.7% of cases, and why
even the manufacturers involved claim success rates significantly below
30% for their products.
The nicotine in a cigarette works by
opening the brain's dopamine receptors and exposing the smoker to
stimulation within milliseconds, and there's just no way this intense
experience can ever be replicated by slowly ingesting the same drug over
many minutes or even hours. You might as well drink a cup of (equally
addictive) coffee instead!
2) If only I can last (2/3/4 weeks)...
Solidly based on the nicotine addiction theory, this equally popular
delusion presumes that cigarette cravings get weaker every day you
abstain, until you reach a magic number of days when they vanish
completely.
If you like failing then you're absolutely going to
love this method, as it's a guaranteed road to nowhere! Because cravings
are overwhelmingly psychological, so there's no way they're ever going
to mysteriously vanish. To the contrary, unless you've taken positive
steps to motivate yourself so you really want to quit, then those
cravings are going to steadily recur, regardless of how long you manage
to abstain. And that's why this method is so popular with those smokers
who lack any real intention of quitting, enjoy martyrdom and maybe like
to revel in the sympathetic attention of gullible friends and relatives
as well!
3) This time, I'm going to try really hard to quit... Whilst weekend golfers try
to reach the green, pros decide exactly where on the green they're
going to allow the ball to drop! If you're really serious about anything
in life, you don't try to do it - you decide exactly how you're going
to go about it so you'll succeed. And if this golden rule has some
exceptions, then quitting smoking certainly isn't one of them!
Paul R Mather is a certified hypnotherapist and the owner of
Cerulean Therapies, a company specializing primarily in helping people
to quit smoking. For more information, please visit http://www.quitclever.co.uk
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