There is no doubt that giving up smoking can help lessen the risk of different health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, emphysema, and more. However, quitting is extremely difficult. While you can avail of the different smoking cessation products like nicotine patches, pills, gums, etc. – there is a more effective tool to help you quit smoking and it might already be just in your pocket.
Technology has gone a long way. You can watch movies, listen to music, take photos, search for recipes, or go online using your smartphone. And now, you can also use it to quit smoking.
In the US alone, approximately 400,000 people die each year because of smoking. And only about 7% of the total number of smokers who wanted to quit succeed. With the introduction of new digital tools like smartphones, there is a chance to reconsider the approach of smoking cessation techniques.
Intervention and quit smoking help comes as an apps on your smartphone. Among the popular iPhone and Apple quit smoking apps is the MyQuit Coach, which helps smokers create personalized plan to wean off cigarettes. By simply typing your daily cigarette consumption on the app, it will help you devise a plan to slowly cut back, until you can let go of smoking completely. For Android users, the most popular application is QuitNow. This app helps you monitor cravings and gives you a statistic on how much you have saved and how your condition has improved after you quit smoking.
While these two apps stand out, there are still a wide variety of available quit smoking apps offering different approaches such as “Quit It Lite” and “My Last Cigarette”. These apps concentrate on preventing the harmful effects of smoking to your health and the monetary benefits of not smoking. Still some offer games or social, peer support.
Choosing the right app depends on your willingness and determination to quit smoking for good. This apps merely reminds you of your goals, it gives you a real time intervention when you needed it. But if there is one thing that this apps offer that is really useful for someone who wanted to quit is their community features, which allows you to associate with other people who are also trying to quit from your phone. This gives you the support you need without having to attend meetings.
Quit smoking apps are only starting to grow. Soon, much better apps will be introduced in the market to help smokers quit the habit. Smartphones are seen to play an important and major role in the effort of averting the negative effects of smoking. Having something in your pocket to help you track your progress, helps ensure that you are going the right path. However, the whole process of quitting does not solely depends on these smartphone apps. Remember, quitting smoking requires strong will and good discipline to completely break away from the psychological and physical dependence of smoking. It takes a lot of effort to break a long time habit.
