Many individuals become nonsmokers every day without professional help and with only the desire to achieve their goal of finding freedom from an overpowering—and, at its psychological core, self-destructive—habit. For, despite the glamor attributed to it by the tobacco and advertising industries, smoking does nothing to enhance life and everything to pollute and defile it.

As you set out to become a nonsmoker, you will discover two things: smoking involves an addiction to nicotine, and it involves a pattern of habitual behaviors.

1.

For some individuals, the nicotine addiction can be overcome simply through “will power,” while for other individuals nicotine patches or nicotine gum may be of help.

The nicotine addiction actually uses a deceptively simple, yet lethal, “trick.” Most persons start smoking during a stage of identity formation or crisis in which they feel psychologically empty within themselves and want some way to make themselves feel accepted by the world around them. For example, adolescents who have seen adults smoking will believe that if they start smoking then they, too, will appear powerful and glamorous.

But once the nicotine gets into your body, it enslaves you to a continuous need for it. Like a deadly parasite, nicotine takes over your body so that you value this deadly chemical more than anything else in life, more even than life itself. So there you are, helpless and cowering in a cold doorway, damp with rain, desperately sucking the illusion of life out of a reeking cigarette. And all the while you’re thinking to yourself, in your bleak emptiness, “This is life?”

2.

Overcoming habitual behaviors involves deliberate, repeated attempts to break old patterns—patterns that make cigarettes seem like “old friends” whose absence causes life to feel flat and empty.

There can be many reasons, some completely outside your awareness, that keep you hanging on to those old enemies in friends’ clothing. Some individuals, for example, have such a profound unconscious sense of despair and self-loathing that smoking aptly serves a dark wish for self-destruction. In the face of difficulties like these, psychological help may be needed.


And remember—many persons who successfully become nonsmokers will have had at least one setback, because “just one puff” easily rekindles old patterns.


Reasons For Becoming A Nonsmoker

Ask yourself why you want to quit smoking. Write down your five most important reasons on an index card. Review these reasons several times a day, especially when you’re tempted to reach for a cigarette. In fact, tape a card to your cigarette pack. Below are some suggestions:

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It will reduce my chances of getting lung cancer.
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It will reduce my chances of developing heart trouble.
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It will help to remedy my heart trouble.
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It will reduce my chances of developing circulatory problems.
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It will help to remedy my circulatory problems.
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It will reduce my chances of developing emphysema.
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It will help to remedy my emphysema.
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It will increase my immune response to colds, flu, and other diseases.
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I’ll be a more productive worker or athlete.
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It will help me cut down on drinking.
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I will be setting a good example for children.
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I will breathe more easily and won’t have morning cough or phlegm.
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My senses of smell and taste will improve.
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It will help lower my blood pressure.
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I will have more energy.
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I will feel more liberated and self-assured.
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I will feel more in command of my life.
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I will be part of an increasingly nonsmoking society.
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Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) can damage my unborn baby and increase the risk of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage).
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Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) can damage the health of my children.




Have you ever heard someone say, “My wife wants me to stop smoking. Even my four year old daughter wants me to stop smoking. I really love them, but I just can’t quit”? Well, as hard as it sounds, this man is really choosing to set his own pleasure above the health of his family. So ask yourself: What kind of love is this? Where is the “love” in an unconscious wish to destroy himself and his family?



Preparing for Quit Day

It can help greatly to plan deliberately for a “Quit Day,” whether several weeks or only a few days away. This planning will prepare you psychologically to break old habits, and it will make smoking more focused and more difficult until the Quit Day arrives. Here are some suggestions:

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Repeat to yourself, several times a day, your reasons for wanting to become a nonsmoker.
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Don’t do anything else when you smoke except focus on the sensations of smoking.
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When you feel the urge to smoke, delay lighting up so as to focus your mind on what you are trying to accomplish.
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Keep a record of every cigarette you smoke, and review it daily.
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Change to brands that have less nicotine.
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Smoke fewer cigarettes.
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Smoke less of each cigarette.
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Inhale fewer puffs of each cigarette.
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Cut back on the coffee you drink.
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Refuse any cigarettes offered to you.
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Allow your ashtrays to fill up without emptying them.
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Stop carrying matches and lighters.
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When you can, avoid situations that trigger your urge to smoke.
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Brush your teeth after every meal and notice how “fresh breath” feels.
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Start exercising regularly.
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Let people know that you will be quitting smoking.
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Enjoy picturing yourself mentally as a nonsmoker.
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Mentally imagine the “rewards” you will receive by being a nonsmoker.




How often were you criticized and humiliated as a child by your parents? How often did you then condemn yourself for being worthless and inadequate? And how often do you reach for a cigarette out of unconscious anger as a secret wish to carry out that condemnation?

Coping With Withdrawal Symptoms

Smoking withdrawal symptoms include: cravings; tension, anxiety, irritability, and restlessness; numbness in arms and legs; dizziness; coughing; and hunger.

Some symptoms are related specifically to nicotine withdrawal, while other symptoms are the result of your body returning to a healthy state and recovering from your habitual abuse of toxic cigarette smoke. If you stop smoking by using nicotine patches or nicotine gum, you may not experience all the symptoms described.

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You can stop a craving by focusing your attention on something else. Cravings usually last for only a couple minutes, so an attention diversion need only be immediate and consistent, not complicated.
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Muscle tension, anxiety, irritability, and restlessness can be reduced by using a variety of relaxation techniques such as Progressive Muscle Relaxation or Autogenics.
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You may feel tingling sensations or numbness in your arms and legs. These sensations usually indicate improved circulation taking place as a result of your body experiencing freedom from the poisons in tobacco smoke.
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You may at times feel dizzy or lightheaded. These sensations usually mean that more oxygen is getting into your brain now that the carbon monoxide associated with smoking is no longer present.
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Some people find themselves coughing more after quitting smoking than before. The reason for this is that the cilia that line the lungs are working to clean out all the tars and other debris in your lungs.
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Increased hunger is a common withdrawal symptom. To avoid weight gain, it is important to exercise regularly, drink lots of water, and have plenty of low-fat foods available for snacks and meals.


Visualization Technique

In general, changing unwanted behavior involves three basic steps:
1.

You must know how ugly the behavior is and how much damage it causes to yourself and to others.
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You must regret the damage caused by the behavior.
3.

You must know the benefits of new and different behavior.

It isn’t sufficient, however, that you “know” these things intellectually; you must know them by feeling them in the depths of your heart.

So here’s how to do it.

Practice the following procedure at least twice a day until you no longer need it:

First, enter a state of relaxation. This is important because the next two steps (if done properly) will arouse considerable anxiety, and you need to be able to reduce that anxiety again. You may use any form of relaxation you prefer, such as Progressive Muscle Relaxation. If you have no prior practice with relaxation techniques, try this simple breathing exercise:


Begin a process of deep breathing, exhaling to a mental count that is twice as long as you inhale. With each breath cycle, increase the duration. For instance, inhale counting, “One,” exhale counting, “One, Two.” Inhale counting, “One, Two;” exhale counting, “One, Two, Three, Four.” Go up the scale to six counts in, twelve counts out. Then reverse: six counts in, twelve counts out; five counts in, ten counts out; and so on, down to one count in, two counts out.


Second, create a negative mood state in which you visualize the harmful and disgusting effects of the unwanted behavior. For example, smell the stench of the smoke on your clothes and body; see the stains on your fingers and teeth; notice your shortness of breath and coughing; visualize the poisons coating your lungs and other internal organs. Then relax.

Third, contemplate how miserable and wretched your life will be if you do not change your behavior. For example, see yourself wheezing for breath and dying of cancer. Imagine your children suffering from their own addictions because of your negative influence. Then relax.

Fourth, create a positive mood state in which you visualize the beneficial effects of new, healthy behavior, all the while your anxiety from the previous step begins to dissolve. For example, see yourself as calm and confident as a non-smoker, relaxed and able to concentrate, free of frustration and tension, a positive influence on others. Relax.

Fifth, reinforce your positive mood with positive statements of validation. Repeat them several times. Create your own, or select from the following examples.
• I have no need for cigarettes. I am no longer a slave to an addiction. I have no need for cigarettes.
• When grounded in quiet relaxation, I can work calmly and confidently. My mind will not wander. My self-confidence will not be bothered by small mistakes.
• I approach all tasks with a calm focus on the matter at hand. I do not lose my concentration by distractions. I act with discipline and resolve.
• I respect my own body. I can present myself to others with respect and dignity. I will listen to and respect others.
• I can remain calm, relaxed, and composed in any situation.
• My calmness and patience can result in compassion and understanding. I can get along well with anyone. I will return kindness to any insult.
• My experience of peace and calm is not threatened by anything outside myself. I have no need for rivals or jealousy. I wish peace and good to all persons.
• There are no “good” days or “bad” days. I can do what needs to be done at all times. I uphold my promises and value my word.

Sixth, conclude with a simple closure to the relaxation session. Take a few deep breaths and affirm that “I feel supremely calm.”

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