Quitting smoking can be hard. But with the right information, you can drop the habit for good without having to suffer. A lot of people do have many questions about quitting smoking. Here are the top 10 most commonly asked questions and their answers:
1. Is smoking really addictive?
When taken in small amounts, nicotine produces pleasurable feelings which last for a very short period of time. To experience the good feeling back, your brain starts to crave for another dose of nicotine. And this is where addiction begins. If your nicotine craving is not met, you start to experience undesirable symptoms, such as headache, irritability, fatigue, and so on. Medically speaking, we call them ‘withdrawal symptoms’.
2. I am just a social smoker. Does it make me prone to the health risks associated with habitual smoking?
Yes. It doesn’t matter whether you are a habitual smoker or a social smoker – you are still vulnerable to developing all kinds of disease that regular smokers have. It is important to completely take cigarettes out of your life to be safe from its negative effects.
3. What makes cigarette so harmful?
Cigarettes contain a mixture of highly dangerous compounds that could cause lasting damage on our body. In fact, there are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco, over 200 are known carcinogens.
- 4. Is there any alternative to cigarettes?
Unfortunately, there’s none. All cigarettes are dangerous to your health, including electronic and herbal cigarettes. Many people think they can make their smoking habits safer by consuming fewer cigarettes, and smoking the so-called ‘light’ cigarettes. However, studies show doing such things will not reduce the health risks associated with smoking.
5. Can quitting really help a life-long smoker?
Even if you’ve been smoking for several years now, you can still benefit from quitting smoking today. Research shows that people who quit in their mid-years increase their life expectancy by 10 years.
6. What’s the best way to quit?
It depends. There are a number of quit smoking strategies which may or may not be applicable for you. If you are considering taking medications, doctors recommend choosing drugs that do not contain nicotine, such as Chantix. If you want an alternative approach, you can go with counseling or psychotherapy.
7. How can smokers successfully quit?
Commitment to quit smoking for good is essential for one to increase his success rate. Even if you are using smoking cessation method, you can still slip if you lack commitment as well as motivation. It is also important to avoid your smoking triggers while in the process of quitting.
8. Is nicotine replacement therapy a good quitting option?
Nicotine replacement therapy or NRT is one of the most popular smoking cessation methods used today. But just like other treatments, it does have plenty of downsides too. And since it contains nicotine, you can still suffer from the negative effects of this very addictive substance, only that you are getting it from a different source.
9. What if I slip?
Relapse is very common among people who try to quit smoking. It doesn’t matter. What is important is you keep trying. Avoiding your smoking triggers will surely help you avoid a smoking relapse.
10. When is the best time to quit?
TODAY is the best time to stop smoking. Cigarettes are toxic drugs that won’t do you any good. Stopping smoking now can greatly lower your risk of developing heart disease, cancer and other serious illnesses.
