They are currently trying to beat nicotine addiction with the help of various tricks: e-cigarettes, band-aids, psychotherapeutic techniques. At the same time, many are thinking about how to quit smoking on their own at home, and whether this idea is feasible, because over the years, a real dependence on tobacco is formed not only on a physical level, but also on a psychological level.
The suffering of the smoker
Today it is difficult to lift for fans. The state, by taking care of the health of citizens, has significantly limited the rights of smokers. And now, a large army of fellow citizens, addicted to tobacco, is forced to group in designated smoking areas, leave the usual "smoking rooms" at the entrances, suffer "starvation" of nicotine when visiting various institutions.
And then there is a new law on the way: it is proposed to ban smoking within 10 meters of the entrance, as residents of the lower floors complain that the tobacco house penetrates from the street into the premises. Can you imagine the picture: a respectable father of the family leaves the house, runs 10 meters from the entrance and hides in the bushes to smoke? There is only one thing left: smoking at home, that is, endangering the health of loved ones.
In this situation, even an experienced smoker thinks about how to break a habit in the long run. As he winds himself up, he remembers how much money literally dissolves in the air along with tobacco smoke. After all, a pack of cigarettes has gone up in price several times over several years, and the quality of tobacco products has declined by the same ratio, and instead of the usual tobacco aroma from a cigarette today, it smells like manure. In addition, health fails: a dry cough in the morning tears the lungs, pressure rises, and the heart is playing tricks.
Sighing with resignation, the person decides to quit the bad habit. But how do you quit smoking on your own if there is no willpower and any stressful situation is unsettling? A true "withdrawal" begins, the hand itself reaches for the cigarette and the body requires a "sedative" dose of nicotine, otherwise the people around it are forced to communicate with an inappropriate person who reacts irritably to any trifle. In response, those lucky enough to quit smoking argue that motivation is the main thing.
Motivation to stop smoking
Many experienced smokers understand that their addiction is not physical, but psychological. The cigarette gives confidence, helps you relax, calm down, reflect on your actions in stressful situations. The daily ritual becomes a habit and now a cup of coffee in the morning is unthinkable without a "refill" of nicotine.
At the same time, a person understands that smoking causes a severe blow to his health, but he cannot give up a bad habit. Any confidential conversation on this topic, requests from loved ones, an example of friends who parted ways with cigarettes will not have the desired effect until the person realizes their problem.
Good to Know You can quit smoking only when you want to! A person must independently motivate themselves to fight smoking and come to terms with the subconscious about it, which plays a key role in adhering to an addiction. An example is the story of two men.
The first of them smoked for many years, automatically noting that after each smoked cigarette a characteristic cough appears, in the morning the heart is crushed, and viscous sputum leaves the lungs. Little by little, he began to realize that the smell of cigarettes and smoking clothes disgusted him. As a result, one day he simply realized that he didn't need it and gave up tobacco for good, and without the accompanying "withdrawal syndrome. "
Another successful young man with 10 years of smoking experience succumbed to the persuasion of his wife and pressure from his family and was determined to "quit smoking. "He was unable to hold a cigarette in his hands for several weeks, but as soon as he reached an alcoholic event, his subconscious mind lifted the restriction and went back to ecstatic smoking and returned to his old habit until the next attempt to deal with the monster. tobacco.
How to motivate yourself to quit smoking? Which method is considered the most effective and will help to cope with the psychological addiction to smoking at home? Let's consider the most popular techniques.
How to quit smoking on your own without pills?
To start with, you need a proper mental attitude. If you're determined to kick a bad habit, try following 5 basic guidelines:
- Don't listen to advice about quitting gradually. Reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke will not solve the problem. You need to stop smoking immediately, at once, without stretching your decision for an indefinite period.
- Get rid of any item that reminds you of an addiction: send the remaining cigarettes in the trash, remove the ashtray, lighter, matches. Send clothes that smell like tobacco smoke to the washing machine.
- Rethink your habits and be aware of the action associated with psychological addiction. If your morning cigarette was associated with a cup of coffee, replace it with tea. If a boozy party or friendly get-togethers is unthinkable without the traditional smoke breaks, give them a break. Better yet, bet with your friends that you won't touch a cigarette for the next 10 to 15 years. Just put something really valuable to you on the line.
- Do not succumb to the provocations and opinions of "knowledgeable" people who claim that it is impossible to abruptly quit smoking an experienced smoker, because latent diseases will appear immediately. On the contrary, every day the internal organs and lungs will be gradually cleansed of nicotine and tobacco toxins, as a result, the state of health will improve.
- Motivate yourself to fight against smoking, realize all the "downsides" of a bad habit, make sure the rejection of tobacco comes from within, this will help you get rid of nicotine addiction at a subconscious level.
The main stages of motivation are awareness of the harm of smoking and the degree of threat to one's health, which can be supported by undergoing a full medical examination and watching videos on the serious consequences of long-term tobacco use.
Popular Ways to Stop Smoking
So you've decided to quit smoking and are looking for a variety of options to help you get through a difficult breakdown period. In this case, simple tricks will help that they do not require a visit to the doctor, the purchase of drugs and the cost of special materials.
How to quit smoking just for a man at home?
There are several popular techniques for developing an aversion to smoking, one of them is called:
Four smelly breaths
- It is necessary to enhance and fix the maximum sensations when inhaling tobacco smoke. To do this, you need to breathe in the tobacco smoke and hold it in your mouth for at least 30 seconds, while making chewing movements with your mouth closed.
- After half a minute, you can let the smoke enter your lungs. In this case, there is an urge to cough. Don't resist, cough.
- Using the same technique, he takes 2 more puffs while chewing the smoke and holding it in his mouth.
- For the fourth time, simply breathe in your smoke-filled lungs and then cough slowly, contracting your abdominal muscles. Then, on the package, write the time you took "smelly breaths" and stopped smoking.
If an unbearable urge to smoke arises, repeat the procedure with chewing smoke and try to increase the intervals between these sessions. Soon, the body will react with disgust to the cigarette and the desire to smoke will evaporate.
Cigarettes with milk
This technique generates a persistent aversion to tobacco. It is enough to soak the cigarettes with milk or fermented milk drinks and dry well. They have a disgusting taste, so smoking them for more than 5-7 days is impossible. During this time, a special reflex develops that causes the rejection of any tobacco product.
Substitution method
This is a much nicer way to replace cigarettes with different tasty substitutes. As soon as you feel the urge to smoke, immediately put candy, gum, a chocolate bar in your mouth, or nibble on seeds and nuts. This method is more suitable for men, as it has a side effect that is unacceptable for women: weight gain. But in this case, you can avoid the appearance of extra kilos if you substitute sweets for natural candied fruits (for example, pineapple) or nuts.
Pain Stimulus
A normal bracelet can make an ex-smoker regain his senses instantly the moment there is an uncontrollable desire to smoke a cigarette. Just click the rubber band in your hand and thoughts of smoking turn into painful sensations. With strong motivation, this is a fairly effective way to prevent relaxation.
How can a girl quit on her own?
Many psychologists point out that the fair sex is much more motivated to quit smoking than men. And this is not surprising, because smoking affects appearance in the most unfavorable way.
Yellow teeth from plaque, poor complexion, hoarse and smoky voice, smell of tobacco on clothes and hair do not add charm to a woman. Such a lady would rather alienate a man than attract her attention. Also, nicotine has a very negative effect on reproductive function and can lead to fetal defects if a pregnant woman smokes. Therefore, women are much more successful in overcoming the craving for a bad habit and returning to a healthy lifestyle. What methods help you in this?
Nicotine patch
You can buy such a patch at any pharmacy. It sticks to the forearm or outside of the thigh. They change records every day. The nicotine in the patch penetrates the skin and tricks the body, stifling the desire to smoke.
On average, the course of treatment lasts about a month; every week the nicotine concentration should be lowered. For the same purpose, you can switch to nicotine gum, herbal cigars, and similar substitutes.
Electronic cigarettes
For many, it is vaporizers (electronic cigarettes) that have become a true salvation from nicotine addiction. It's even fashionable to be a vaper now. Instead of tobacco, these devices contain a special liquid, which evaporates from the surface of the heating element and turns into a cloud of aromatic vapor that looks like tobacco smoke. This is a real finding for a smoker with a strong psychological dependence, since all the signs of smoking remain, but without the harmful component of nicotine.
Tablets and drops
Nicotine cravings can be alleviated with medication. To do this, take Tabex or Nicorette tablets. The doctor must determine the dosage of the drugs and the duration of the course of administration. These drugs gradually reduce the urge to smoke and create an aversion to nicotine.
Another drug, Tabamex, has recently appeared on the pharmaceutical market. This innovative drug against nicotine addiction is available in drop and gel form. For many smokers, the drug has become a real life saver, discouraging the desire to smoke without the accompanying side effects: weight gain or mental instability.
The preparation contains a complex of vitamins and extracts of medicinal plants, the action of which is aimed at reducing the need for nicotine. Users note that taking drops almost immediately discourages the urge to smoke, and the gel removes yellow plaque on the teeth and eliminates the smell of tobacco. One course of therapy is sufficient to obtain the desired effect. Until now, you can order the drug only on the manufacturer's website, it is not sold in pharmacies.
Acupuncture
The psychological addiction to nicotine is formed at the level of the reflex, fixed in the cerebral cortex. During the acupuncture procedure, the reflexologist acts on certain points that interrupt the chain of impulses that go to the brain and thus suppress the desire to smoke. After a few sessions, a person stops feeling hungry for nicotine and can soon get rid of the addiction easily.
Neuro-linguistic programming method
Judging by the reviews, this is one of the most effective methods, but only if the person himself decided to quit smoking and the procedure is performed by a professional who practices this method. In fact, this is ordinary hypnosis that reprograms consciousness. As a result, negative attitudes change to positive and a person quits a habit that is harmful to health.
Of course, all the above techniques are suitable not only for women, but also for men. In addition to these options, a variety of home remedies can be used to help alleviate nicotine cravings.
Popular recipes
To reduce tobacco addiction, herbalists suggest using the following recipes:
Oats
Old grandfather's way of mixing tobacco with dried oats, ground to powder, helps a lot against tobacco addiction.
But today no one smokes hand-rolled cigarettes, and taking tobacco out of a cigarette, mixing it with the desired ingredient, and then refilling the shells is a long and tedious process. Therefore, it is better to use a decoction of oatmeal. To prepare it, grind the oat grains and add 1 tablespoon. l. powder in a glass with cold boiled water. Leave the composition overnight to infuse, boil in the morning, strain and drink instead of tea.
Anti-smoking gum
Peel, chop and mix the fresh horseradish root with an equal amount of chopped banana leaves. Then pour this mixture into your mouth and chew. The released juice should be swallowed and the dried residue should be spit out. This way, you can stifle the urge to smoke and prevent relapses. For the same purpose, you can use branches of bird cherry, currant, ginger root or calamus.
Rinses
Mouthwash with soda or saline is recommended to combat nicotine cravings in the first few days of quitting. As soon as there is an irresistible desire to smoke, you need to rinse your mouth with a solution that is prepared at the rate of 1 tablespoon. soda or salt in 200 ml of warm boiled water.
Advantages of life without cigarettes
When quitting, the first week is the hardest thing to do and then it will be a lot easier. Along with cigarette smoke, ailments will disappear, health and mood will improve, and soon you yourself will notice the following positive results:
- a smoker's shortness of breath and dry cough will disappear;
- free breathing will return, the lungs will be cleared of toxic substances;
- the risk of cardiovascular and oncological diseases will be significantly reduced;
- chronic pathologies of the upper respiratory tract will disappear;
- the functions of the immune system are normalized, the body's defenses are restored;
- the mood will rise, the nervous system will strengthen;
- will improve the condition of the complexion, skin and hair;
- the yellow tobacco plaque will clean your teeth;
- will increase efficiency and mental activity, since the brain will not suffer from hypoxia;
- the unpleasant smell of tobacco will disappear from your clothes;
- and finally, a significant savings on the family budget will be a nice bonus.
For the sake of this list of benefits, quitting is worth considering. In addition, a healthy lifestyle, snow-white smiles, a fresh complexion and other evidence of excellent health are now in vogue, which is absolutely incompatible with smoking.
Reviews of smoking cessation methods
Revision no. 1
Smoked for more than 20 years, smoked his first cigarette as a teenager. At that time, the cigarette was a symbol of independence for me, it gave me authority in the eyes of others. Over the years, the health problems began, the youth left, but the habit remained. When doctors warned him that there were problems with his blood vessels and that it could all end in a stroke, he seriously thought about quitting smoking.
I have tried many remedies, from nicotine patches and lozenges to e-cigarettes, but were constantly failing. In the end, the Cytisine smoking remedy helped me. Since it was cut. Now even the smell of cigarettes is disgusting.
Revision no. # 2
I quit smoking two years ago. At the time, my wife and I were expecting our first child and she just couldn't stand the smell of tobacco. Even if I used toothpaste right away, my clothes and hair were still drenched in smoke. I myself have long thought about how to say goodbye to a bad habit.
In the end, I only gave myself a series of instructions, but I did not stop smoking abruptly, but gradually reduced the number of cigarettes I smoked. When I hit 2 a day, I noticed that I hardly felt like smoking. And there was no time for smoke breaks: work, part-time jobs, family, young children. As a result, I forgot about cigarettes and now I am absolutely indifferent to smoking.