Today they are trying to defeat nicotine addiction with the help of various tricks - electronic cigarettes, plasters, psychotherapeutic techniques. At the same time, many are thinking about how to quit smoking on their own at home and whether this idea is viable, because over the years, a real dependence on tobacco is formed not only on the physical, but also on the psychological level.
The smoker's suffering
Today it is difficult for amateurs to get up. The state, in taking care of the health of its citizens, has significantly limited the rights of smokers. And now, a large army of fellow citizens addicted to tobacco is forced to flock to designated smoking areas, leave the usual "smoking rooms" at the entrances, suffer from nicotine "hunger" when visiting various institutions.
And there is a new law on the way - it is proposed to ban smoking less than 10 meters from the entrance, as the residents of the lower floors complain about the penetration of the street tobacco shop into the place. Have you ever imagined the picture - a respectable family man leaves the house, runs 10 meters from the entrance and hides in the bush to smoke? Only one thing remains - smoking at home, that is, putting the health of loved ones at risk.
In this situation, even an experienced smoker thinks about how to break a long-term habit. As he recovers, he remembers how much money literally dissolves in the air along with tobacco smoke. After all, the price of a pack of cigarettes has gone up several times over the course of several years, and the quality of tobacco products has dropped in proportion and, instead of the usual tobacco aroma of a cigarette today, it smells like manure. In addition, health fails - a dry cough in the morning pulls out the lungs, the pressure rises and the heart plays tricks.
Sighing resignedly, the person decides to give up the addiction. But how do you stop smoking on your own if there is no willpower and any stressful situation is disturbing? A real "withdrawal" begins, the hand itself takes a cigarette and the body requires a "sedative" dose of nicotine, otherwise people around are forced to communicate with an inappropriate person who reacts with irritation to any trifle. In response, the lucky ones who managed to quit smoking argue that the main thing is motivation.
Motivation to quit smoking
Many experienced smokers understand that their addiction is not physical, but psychological. Cigarettes give confidence, help you relax, calm down, think about your actions in stressful situations. A daily ritual becomes a habit, and now a morning cup of coffee is unthinkable without the nicotine "refill".
At the same time, the person understands that smoking is a big blow to his health, but he cannot stop the bad habit. Any confidential conversations on this subject, requests from loved ones, an example of friends who have given up cigarettes will not have the desired effect until the person realizes their problem.
Good to knowYou can only stop smoking when you want to! A person must be motivated independently to fight smoking and negotiate with his subconscious, which plays a key role in addiction. An example is the story of two men.
The first of them smoked for many years, automatically noting that after each cigarette smoked a characteristic cough appears, in the morning the heart squeezes and the viscous sputum leaves the lungs. Gradually, he began to realize that the smell of cigarettes and smoky clothes disgusted him. As a result, one day he simply realized that he didn't need it and stopped smoking forever, and without the "abstinence" and the breakdowns that accompanied it.
Another successful young man with 10 years of smoking experience succumbed to his wife's persuasion and pressure from relatives and was determined to “quit”. He was unable to hold a cigarette in his hands for several weeks, but as soon as he came to an event with alcohol, his subconscious lifted the restriction and he smoked again in ecstasy and went back to his old habit until the next attempt to deal with the tobacco monster.
How to motivate yourself to quit smoking, which method is considered the most effective and will help you deal with the psychological addiction of smoking at home? Let's consider the most popular techniques.
How to stop smoking alone, without pills?
To begin, you need a proper mental attitude. If you are determined to give up a bad habit, try to follow 5 basic guidelines:
- Do not listen to advice on how to stop smoking gradually. Reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke will not solve the problem. It is necessary to stop smoking immediately, at once, without stretching your decision for an indefinite period.
- Get rid of all the items that remind you of an addiction - throw the remaining cigarettes in the trash, remove the ashtray, the lighter, the matches. Send clothes that smell of tobacco smoke to the wash.
- Reconsider your habits and be aware of the behavior associated with psychological addiction. If your morning cigarette is associated with a cup of coffee, replace it with tea. If a party with alcohol or friendly meetings is unthinkable without traditional smoking breaks, give up on them for a while. Better yet, bet with your friends that you won't touch a cigarette for the next 10-15 years. Just put something really valuable to you.
- Do not succumb to the provocations and opinions of "knowledgeable" people who claim that it is impossible to stop an experienced smoker abruptly, because latent diseases will appear immediately. On the contrary, every day the internal organs and lungs will be gradually cleared of nicotine and tobacco toxins, as a result, the state of health will improve.
- Motivate yourself to fight smoking, understand all the "cons" of a bad habit, make sure that the rejection of tobacco comes from within, this will help to get rid of nicotine addiction at the subconscious level.
The main stages of motivation are the awareness of the harmful effects of smoking and the degree of threat to one's own health, which can be proven through a complete medical examination and the display of videos on the serious consequences of tobacco use along term.
Popular methods of smoking cessation
So you've decided to quit smoking and are looking for a variety of options to help you overcome a difficult period of relapse. In that case, they will help simple tricks that do not require medical consultation, purchase of medicines and expenses with special materials.
How to stop on your own for a man at home?
There are several popular methods for developing aversion to smoking, one of which is called:
Four smelly breaths
- It is necessary to increase and fix the maximum sensations of tobacco smoke inhalation. To do this, you need to inhale the tobacco smoke and keep it in your mouth for at least 30 seconds, while making chewing movements with your mouth closed.
- After half a minute, you can let the smoke enter your lungs. In that case, there is a desire to cough. Don't resist it, cough.
- Using the same technique, take 2 more puffs while you chew the smoke and keep it in your mouth.
- For the fourth time, simply suck in the smoke-filled lungs and then cough slowly, contracting your abdominal muscles. Then, on the package, write the time when you "breathed badly" and did not smoke anymore.
If you experience an unbearable urge to smoke, repeat the procedure chewing smoke and try to increase the intervals between these sessions. Soon the body will react to the cigarette with disgust and the desire to smoke will evaporate.
Milk Cigarettes
This technique forms a persistent aversion to tobacco. Just soak the cigarettes with milk or fermented milk drinks and dry well. They taste disgusting, so it is impossible to smoke for more than 5 to 7 days. During this time, a special reflex is developed, which causes the rejection of any tobacco product.
Replacement method
This is a much more pleasant way of replacing cigarettes with different tasty substitutes. As soon as you feel like smoking, immediately put sweets, chewing gum, chocolate bars in your mouth or nibble on seeds and nuts. This method is more suitable for men, as it has an unacceptable side effect for women - weight gain. But in this case, you can prevent extra pounds from appearing by replacing the candies with natural candied fruits (eg pineapple) or dried fruits.
Pain stimulus
A normal bracelet can instantly bring an ex-smoker to his reason the moment there is an uncontrollable urge to smoke a cigarette. Just click on the rubber band in your hand and thoughts about smoking become painful sensations. With strong motivation, this is a very effective way to avoid relaxation.
How can a girl stop smoking alone?
Many psychologists note that the weaker sex is much more motivated to quit smoking than men. And this is not surprising, because smoking affects your appearance in the most unfavorable way.
Yellow teeth because of the plaque, bad complexion, hoarse and smoky voice, the smell of tobacco from clothes and hair do not add charm to a woman. This lady would rather alienate a man than attract her attention. In addition, nicotine has a very negative effect on reproductive function and can cause fetal defects if a pregnant woman smokes. Therefore, women are much more successful in overcoming the desire for a bad habit and returning to a healthy lifestyle. What methods help you with this?
Nicotine patch
You can buy the patch at any pharmacy. It is glued to the forearm or the outside of the thigh. They change records every day. The nicotine in the patch penetrates the skin and deceives the body, drowning out the desire to smoke.
On average, the course of treatment lasts about a month, each week the concentration of nicotine should be reduced. For the same purpose, you can switch to nicotine chewing gum, herbal cigars and similar substitutes.
Electronic cigarettes
For many, it is vaporizers (electronic cigarettes) that have become a real lifeline to nicotine addiction. It is even fashionable to be a vaper now. Instead of tobacco, these devices contain a special liquid, which evaporates from the surface of the heating element and turns into a cloud of aromatic vapor that looks like tobacco smoke. This is a true finding for a smoker with strong psychological dependence, since all the signs of smoking remain, but without the harmful component of nicotine.
Tablets and drops
Nicotine cravings can be relieved with medications. For this purpose, take Tabex or Nicorette tablets. The dosage of medications and the duration of the administration course must be determined by the doctor. These drugs gradually reduce the desire to smoke and form an aversion to nicotine.
Another drug, Tabamex, recently appeared on the pharmaceutical market. This innovative remedy for nicotine addiction comes in the form of drops and gel. For many smokers, the drug has become a real lifesaver, which discourages the desire to smoke without the accompanying side effects - weight gain or mental instability.
The preparation contains a complex of vitamins and herbal extracts, whose action aims to reduce the need for nicotine. Users note that taking eye drops almost immediately discourages the urge to smoke, and the gel removes yellow plaque from the teeth and eliminates the odor of tobacco. A course of therapy is sufficient to obtain the desired effect. So far it is only possible to order the drug through the manufacturer's website, it is not sold in pharmacies.
Acupuncture
The psychological dependence on nicotine is formed at the reflex level, which is fixed in the cerebral cortex. During the acupuncture procedure, the reflexologist acts on certain points that interrupt the chain of impulses that go to the brain and thus suppress the desire to smoke. After just a few sessions, the person no longer feels hungry for nicotine and soon can easily run out of addiction.
Neurolinguistic programming method
Judging by the reviews, this is one of the most effective methods, but only if the person has decided to stop smoking and the procedure is performed by a professional who practices this method. In fact, this is the common hypnosis that reprograms consciousness. As a result, negative attitudes become positive and the person abandons a habit that is harmful to health.
Of course, all of the above techniques are suitable not only for women, but also for men. In addition to these options, a variety of folk remedies can be used to help relieve nicotine cravings.
Popular recipes
To reduce tobacco addiction, herbalists suggest using the following recipes:
Oats
The old grandfather's way of mixing tobacco with dried oats, ground into powder, helps a lot against tobacco addiction.
But today nobody smokes hand-rolled cigarettes, and pouring tobacco from a cigarette, mixing it with the desired ingredient and then refilling the shells is a long and tedious process. Therefore, it is better to use an oat decoction. To prepare it, grind the oat grains and add 1 tbsp. I. powder in a glass with cold boiled water. Leave the composition overnight to infuse, boil in the morning, strain and drink instead of tea.
Anti-smoking gum
Peel, chop and mix fresh horseradish root with an equal amount of chopped banana leaves. Then put this mixture in your mouth and chew. The released juice must be swallowed and the dry residue must be spat out. In this way, you can stifle the urge to smoke and prevent relapse. For the same purpose, you can use branches of bird cherry, currant, ginger root or calamus.
Rinse
Mouthwash with soda or saline is recommended to combat the craving for nicotine in the first days after quitting. As soon as there is an irresistible urge to smoke, you should rinse your mouth with a solution prepared in the proportion of 1 tbsp. soda or salt in 200 ml of warm boiled water.
The pros of life without cigarettes
When you quit smoking, the first week is the hardest thing to do and then it will be much easier. Along with cigarette smoke, diseases will go away, health, mood will improve and soon you will notice the following positive results yourself:
- shortness of breath and a smoker's dry cough will disappear;
- free breathing will return, the lungs will be cleared of toxic substances;
- the risk of cardiovascular and oncological diseases will be significantly reduced;
- chronic pathologies of the upper respiratory tract will disappear;
- immune system functions are normalized, the body's defenses are restored;
- mood will increase, the nervous system will be strengthened;
- improves the appearance, condition of the skin and hair;
- the yellow tobacco plaque will clean your teeth;
- efficiency and mental activity will increase, as the brain will not suffer from hypoxia;
- the unpleasant tobacco smell of clothes will disappear;
- and, finally, significant savings on the family budget will be a nice bonus.
Because of this list of benefits, it is worth quitting. In addition, a healthy lifestyle, snow-white smiles, fresh skin and other evidence of excellent health are in fashion, which is absolutely incompatible with smoking.
Assessments of smoking cessation methods
Comment # 1
He smoked for over 20 years, smoked his first cigarette as a teenager. At that time, smoking was a symbol of independence for me, it gave me authority in the eyes of others. Over the years, health problems arose, young people left, but the habit remained. When doctors warned that there were blood vessel problems and that it could all end in a stroke, he seriously considered quitting.
I tried many remedies - from nicotine patches and pills to electronic cigarettes, but I failed constantly. In the end, the Cytisine smoking cessation helped me. Since it cut. Now, even the smell of cigarettes is disgusting.
Comment # 2
Stop smoking two years ago. At that time, my wife and I were expecting our first child and she just couldn't stand the smell of tobacco. Even though I used toothpaste right away, the clothes and hair were still soaked with smoke. I myself have long thought about how to say goodbye to a bad habit.
As a result, I gave myself a set of instructions, but I didn't stop abruptly, but gradually reduced the number of cigarettes smoked. When I reached 2 a day, I realized that I had almost no desire to smoke. And there was no time for smoking breaks - work, part-time jobs, family, young children. As a result, I just forgot about cigarettes and now I am absolutely indifferent to smoking.