How to stop smoking - For free

Without becoming addicted to something else

By
Neil Devine

How to stop smoking - For free

Without becoming addicted to something else

Neil Devine

E-ISBN 9789461540546

NU 751

THEMA VFL

© 2023 SWPPublishers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of SWP Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Contents

Introduction
Take a Good Look in the Mirror

Chapter 1.
How to Pick a Fight

Chapter 2.
How to Win a War

Chapter 3.
It’s All About The Money

Chapter 4.
Know Your Enemy

Chapter 5.
Is Nicotine Replacement Therapy an Ally?

Chapter 6.
The Real Enemy

Chapter 7.
Intelligence Gathering. The Key to Winning

Chapter 8.
Your Battle Strategy

Chapter 9.
Losing a Battle Does Not Mean Defeat

Chapter 10.
Coda. The Unimportance of the Author.

Annex A
Your Diary
Your Timeline

Introduction

Take a Good Look in the Mirror.

If you are reading this, the chances are you smoke cigarettes. It is also likely, you want to quit. Perhaps you have just decided to ditch the habit or maybe you’ve tried several times in the past. Whichever, this book can grant your wish.

So, without further ado let’s begin.

The first thing to know is, it is critical to begin your battle against smoking correctly. Start at the wrong point and you probably won’t achieve your goal.

I want you to consider carefully this starting point. It is one simple premise.

“There are smokers and there are non-smokers. Be whichever you are.”

Really! Is that it?

At this moment you may be tempted to tear this book in two and throw the halves across the room. After all, you opened this tome searching for answers or a methodology at the very least, not some stupid proverb. You want to stop smoking. You need help. Some of you require assistance, others knowledge. Some will be hoping for mentoring and support. There may even be the odd one or two, who expect a magical spell or incantation to free them from the curse of tobacco.

But all you’ve been told thus far is: There is no sacred path, no process to quitting, no magical words, no secret knowledge. Simply look in the mirror and say, “I am a non- smoker”. Hey Presto the transformation is complete.

Well.. not exactly.

This is just the start. This is how the war begins.

Chapter 1.

How to Pick the Fight.

You are a smoker. You’ve been lighting up the ‘coffin nails’ for some time now. The problem is, you like it. The habit is enjoyable, it relaxes you, it’s part of your life, who you are, what you do. But there is one small problem that just won’t go away. Actually it is a couple of problems. Your habit has become increasingly expensive and then… there is the nagging. The constant nagging of family, friends and society. You are becoming a pariah, socially unacceptable, not welcome anywhere. Of course there is also that voice inside your head. The one you constantly try to keep quiet. The one you know is telling the truth. These things are killing you, slowly but killing you all the same.

It’s a good idea to stop. But then again, there is the weight gain. We all know of people who quit, replaced cigs with food, put on twenty kilos, lost their self-esteem and fell back into the twenty a day habit. Better off remaining thin but… there is that that day when you’re told, sorry but it’s lung cancer!

It’s a good idea to stop. Actually it’s a great idea but doing it… cold turkey is just too cold. Perhaps you’ve tried nicotine replacement therapy and found it didn’t exactly replace the craving. Some of you might have followed advice and made a grand quitting announcements to family and colleagues, set the date, publicly crushed your last packet and blundered blindly down a dark alley. You looked like such a loser, when after a few days you succumbed and struck that match. Worse, you actually felt like a loser. It was a double whammy, because failure hits your self-confidence and self-esteem. It leaves you far less likely to care much about your well-being. The concern for your health, or the concern of loved ones for your health, quickly vanishes with failure. Solace is sought, deep within that packet of delicious smelling tobacco sticks. The enchantment of the cigarette endures. It will be while before you grow strong enough to once again try and break the spell.

It is scary stuff.

But why is it so hard? Loads of people have freed themselves from the constant cloud of smoke, yellow fingers and hair that smells of a bonfire. People who you would not necessarily describe as special, strong or powerful but nonetheless they’ve done it, they prevailed. You, as of yet, have been unable to pull yourself free from the curse that binds you to that pack of twenty. Why? Why are you so cursed? Why do you find it oh so difficult to stop clicking that lighter and taking that puff? The answer is straight forward, because my friend, you are a smoker and lighting up in the tobacco filled swamplands, is what you do. It is where you chose to be. It’s where you belong.

Yes but that was then. Now… you no longer want to be a smoker. You’ve had enough. Time to quit and move out of the smoke enveloped bog. But wading free is a hard.

If you’ve tried before, you’ll know exactly what I mean. If you’ve thought about quitting and discussed it with others, you’ll understand. All the advice given. All the words from health-professionals and worse, people wanting to sell you a smoking replacement. All of it, revolves around convincing you the problem is not your fault, you have an addiction. You are addicted to nicotine. A highly addictive substance. But don’t panic, with moral support, perhaps a little bit of the drug from an alternative source and a bucket full of will-power, you’ll be able to resist the temptation to light up and after a while the cravings will become less and eventually you’ll become smoke free.

To all concerned, the problem is clear, you are addicted to the nicotine you inhale in smoke. The key to stopping, all you need to do is… stop putting cigarettes into your mouth, setting fire to them and inhaling the said smoke. It’s binary, black and white, you versus the nicotine. Don’t strike the match and you are saved.

Well if you opened this book looking for something different, a tiny piece of magic, or a small secret, here is your first titbit of knowledge.

They are wrong.

It is not all about nicotine.

It never was.

Come back to that first premise, “There are smokers and there are non-smokers. Be whichever you are.” But what is meant by the term ‘smoker’?

What defines a smoker?

That’s obvious, someone who smokes.. but how many and how often? One drag on a joint doesn’t turn you into you a drug addict. One glass of wine does not an alcoholic make. So when did we become smokers? After we finished our first pack, when we started buying them, or perhaps when we began enjoying them? We all know those first few cigarettes were not all that pleasant. Or was the title of smoker achieved when we became addicted?

To answer the question, or at least offer a feasible suggestion as to what defines a smokers, we need to look more closely at this, ‘smoking creature’.

Most research shows the majority of smokers pick up the habit early in life. Some people claim to have started smoking as young as 8 or 9 but the average appears to be mid-teens, somewhere around 15 years old. The upper end of the bracket is early 20’s when people are at college, university, beginning an apprenticeship or starting their first job. It is very rare that a new smoker is born post 25 years old. It is fair to say that if you haven’t become a smoker by the time you reach your mid-twenties you will probably remain a non-smoker for life.

Research also highlights that a large number of people tried smoking in their teens or college years, however chose not to continue with the habit. Would these people describe themselves as: reformed smokers or non-smokers? In almost all cases, it’s the latter.

If it’s tricky to say exactly when a person becomes a smoker, try defining when the transition to non-smoker is complete.

When does someone become a non-smoker or to put it another way, define a non-smoker?

Does the title of non-smoker mean: someone who has never smoked or someone who no longer smokes?

Consider these examples. Alma smoked her last cigarette 12 years ago. Is she a non-smoker? Perhaps, but maybe you need a little more information? If I now tell you, Alma is 25 years old and tried a couple of cigarette at friends sleep-over party when she was 13 and hasn’t smoked since, the answer becomes obvious. However if I told you instead, Alma is 35 and smoked a pack a day for ten years, then what? Non- smoker, or reformed smoker? Finally, what if I said Alma was 60 years old and smoked two packs a day for 35 years, does your definition change?

At what point do you say Alma is a smoker who quit or Alma is a non-smoker?

Let’s look at Barry. Barry smoked his last cigarette six months ago. Non-smoker? Like Alma, it depends on a number of factors. How long was Barry smoking prior to ‘giving-up’. How many did he smoke per day? What difference to your definition would it make if I said, Barry smoked his last cigarette a month ago, or even a week ago or two days? Perhaps the length of time passed since finishing that final drag, dictates the status of ‘potential non-smoker’.

Finally consider Charlie (to be inclusive let’s say Charlie identifies as they). Charlie describes themselves as a casual or occasional smoker. They partake at parties but other than that they show no recognisable pattern of smoking. They buy one packet per month and if not in the mood don’t smoke at all.

When filling out a questionnaire, all three pause at the question; ‘Are You A Smoker?’ Alma, gave up over a decade ago, Barry recently and Charlie considers themselves ‘a social smoker’ only. How do they answer the question, when the only options available are ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Perhaps there is no correct answer to the question. No empirical definition of a smoker exists. Most dictionaries define ‘a smoker’ as, someone who smokes regularly. Of course the term regularly is highly subjective. According to this definition Alma, Barry and Charlie should all answer the question with, No. However from a health perspective damage done to your body doesn’t instantly heal if you go a couple of days without a cigarette. Insurance companies thus shy away from using this definition. Instead they want more information. Premiums are calculated based on statistical odds. To work out these odds they need empirical data. Hence the terms, smoker and non-smoker are of little use to them.

We can therefore conclude the terms, ‘smoker’ and ‘non-smoker’ are subjective terms not clearly defined by data, as such the transition from one to the other is anything but black and white. I don’t think this conclusion is considered, particularly controversial. Most people describe quitting smoking as a process. The line between ‘smoker’ and ‘non-smoker’ being ill defined. Most people are happy to place time periods on this process. Some considered a month free of tobacco enough to complete the transformation. Others think six months is more acceptable, whilst the hardliners insist a person is still in the process of giving up for a number of years. A few believe, it isn’t about the time period at all but about the craving. Once you no longer crave a smoke then, you are free of your addiction and can claim the status of non-smoker.

My question to you, as someone who wishes to give up, is; How do you define a ‘non-smoker’? It is, of course what you want to be. Perhaps you have quit before and went several weeks, months or even years before falling off the wagon. We all know of people who’ve stopped for a period, no matter how short or long but been tempted back into that troublesome packet. At what point will you claim the title of ‘non-smoker’ and feel free from guilt when ticking the, ‘non-smoker’ box on a questionnaire?

In a moment, I’d like you to stop reading and sit quietly and consider that question.

How long do you need to be cigarette free before you feel you’ve achieved, ‘non-smoker’ status?