Stop smoking in Stoptober
Rob Kelly, therapist and creator of The Thrive Programme, believes that smoking is not an addiction but a habit, something that smokers have control over. He believes he has the know to help empower you to take responsibility of your hair and look at it as something you have control over.
Here he shares that knowledge.
Almost 20% of the population in both the UK and USA smoke. Most of these smokers would like to quit but the majority believe that stopping smoking is a very difficult thing to do and many do not even attempt cessation.
It isn’t surprising that many smokers believe that quitting is very challenging, since most smoking cessation treatments are not very successful.
The NHS stop smoking clinics, for example, offer pharmacological treatments (NRT, Varenicline/Champix or Bupropion/Zyban) in combination with behavioural support.
Recent studies explored the short- and long-term outcomes of the Stop Smoking Services in England and found that although 53% of clients were biochemically established to have quit smoking at 4 weeks, after one-year, only 14.6% of participants were verified to be non-smokers. That leaves a lot of people who either never quit in the first place, or who went back to smoking within a year.
But quitting smoking doesn’t have to be difficult. A survey into my smoking cessation methods found that 92.5% of participants reported stopping smoking, at an average of 4 weeks post-session (similar to the initial follow-up within the studies of the NHS Stop Smoking Services).
What is more, client feedback has suggested that, unlike the NHS stop smoking services, very few individuals relapse back to smoking again at any point, because they feel genuinely empowered. The following five tips to help you stop smoking are based upon just a few of the insights contained within my new ‘Thrive as a non smoker’ workbook, which is available to buy on Amazon:
1. Challenge the belief that you are addicted to nicotine
It is understandable that you believe that you are addicted to smoking, since this is the most prevalent view within the media and medical professions. Indeed, addiction is one of the most common reasons given by smokers themselves as to why they smoke. In one research study, “92.9% rated themselves as extremely or fairly addicted” (Eiser, Van der Pligt, Raw, & Sutton, 1985). Believing that you are addicted to smoking is very disempowering. In my experience, the single biggest reason why smokers find it so hard to quit (until they meet me, obviously) is because they BELIEVE it is going to be really hard, because they BELIEVE that they are addicted. Yet despite the addiction claims, there is actually a great deal of evidence demonstrating that smoking is just a habit and that psychological processes contribute hugely to ‘withdrawal symptoms’ and ‘cravings’. I don’t have the space to discuss all this evidence here, but I’ll mention just a couple of key examples! Firstly, research into Orthodox Jews, whose religion forbids them to smoke on the Sabbath, has demonstrated that even heavy smokers have little or no difficulty in abstaining entirely on the Sabbath, every single week (Dar, Stronguin, Marouani, Krupsky, & Frenk, 2005; Shiffman, 1991). Or what about the fact that nicotine-free cigarettes reduce ‘cravings’ as much as those containing nicotine (Dar, Stronguin, & Etter, 2005; Etter, Laszlo, Zellweger, Perrot, & Perneger, 2002), demonstrating that ‘cravings’ are not about nicotine ‘withdrawal’.
So, whenever you find yourself thinking that you are ‘addicted’ or that quitting is going to be really hard, tell yourself that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that you are not actually addicted to smoking. Say to yourself that quitting doesn’t need to be hard. You could either buy my ‘Thrive as a non smoker’ workbook so that you can see this research evidence against smoking as an addiction for yourself. Or try reading the review paper ‘Nicotine as an Addictive Substance: A Critical Examination of the Basic Concepts and Empirical Evidence’ (Atrens, 2001), as this gives a fairly accessible overview of such research.
2. Challenge unhelpful thinking surrounding quitting
Most smokers think in an unhelpful way in relation to quitting. They think negatively and catastrophically, building up smoking cessation into an impossible to scale mountain in their minds. Whenever you find yourself thinking in an unhelpful, disempowering way about smoking, change your language to something more positive and helpful. Some examples of how to do this are as follows:
“I’m really dying for a fag” ⇒ “I’d quite like a fag.”
“I don’t have the willpower to quit” ⇒ “I do have the willpower to quit. I’m taking action to make myself feel more capable and resourceful.”
“I’ve completely failed at quitting, now that I’ve had that fag” ⇒ “I’ve had a minor blip. I can easily get back on track.”
3. Build self-efficacy
Building up your self-efficacy (your belief that you can achieve goals) and self-esteem generally will help you to feel more powerful and capable in relation to quitting smoking. Many people don’t notice their many small daily achievements. Others diminish these successes and think about them in a powerless way. Putting effort into thinking about your positive achievements over the last few days or weeks (no matter how small!) for just five or ten minutes every day can really help you to feel more empowered and capable. These don’t need to be big achievements; you may, for example, have cooked a delicious dinner, gone for a run, or finished an assignment at work. You want to remind yourself that you achieved your success because of your efforts and remind yourself that you can do the same in other areas of your life. A great thing to do is to keep a list of your everyday achievements on your phone, so that you can easily recap them.
4. Visualise success at becoming a non-smoker
What you imagine or rehearse happening in your mind is incredibly powerful. You want to set aside five or ten minutes a couple of times each day to visualise success as a non-smoker. For every scenario you want to imagine things going the way that you want them to, not the way you fear things might go wrong. Imagine yourself as a happy, confident and proud non-smoker. Really focus upon this feeling, magnifying it. Think about all the benefits you will receive as a result of quitting; bring these to the forefront of your mind and make them more tangible. Imagine yourself feeling fitter, healthier, richer, more confident etc. Imagine your breathing being easier and lighter.
Visualise yourself in situations where you would normally smoke. Imagine feeling calm and relaxed. Think about how much more powerful and in control you feel. Think about the boost to your internal locus of control and self-esteem that becoming a non-smoker will be giving you. You can imagine people at work offering you a cigarette, and replying, ‘no thanks, I’m a non-smoker’ and then feeling a huge sense of achievement. By putting effort into visualising life as a non-smoker in this way, you will be increasing your self-efficacy surrounding quitting. You will be ensuring that you do not create anticipatory anxiety about becoming a non-smoker and are instead rehearsing things the way you want them to be.
5. Pick at date and stick to it
Pick a date to become a non-smoker. Decide on that date, write it in your phone, diary and calendar, tell your friends and family about it, post it on Facebook – make sure that there is no doubt in your mind that on that date you will become a non-smoker! Choose a precise time at which you are going to become a non-smoker, so that there is no uncertainty about when you are making this change. Ideally, you want to write yourself a declaration. Write down the date and time and add your signature to show your full commitment. You could even stick it on your fridge on pin it to your notice board, so that you will be continually reminding yourself of your commitment. Between now and the date you have chosen, put effort into completing the other four top tips, so that you are really building up your self-efficacy in relation to quitting.
The top tips given here are just a small part of the insights given within my ‘Thrive as a non smoker’ workbook. The carefully designed programme within this book enables smokers to build robust self-efficacy and willpower in relation to quitting, and provides them with all the skills they need to become a non-smoker for life.
Tagged in Health Healthy Body Smokers