Despite the enormous effort involved, do not forget: it is possible to overcome this addiction and enjoy better health.
Courtesy | Most people who smoke quit eight to 12 times, due to the addiction of cigarettes, before quitting for good
Smoking tobacco is highly addictive and can have long-term adverse health effects. But there is hope for those who want to quit thanks to innovative apps, helplines and proven strategies.
Cigarettes have chemicals that can make this addiction especially insidious. When they enter the lungs, they can cause harmful effects such as bronchitis, explains Jonathan Bricker, a professor in the division of public health sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Over time, smoking can lead to lung cancer, which has a survival rate of less than 18% within five years of diagnosis.
Here are steps you can take to quit smoking or help someone you love quit and live a healthier life:
Focus on how to “stay smoke free”
The goal should not be to quit smoking; rather, focus on how to “keep quitting,” Galiatsatos said. He says that he has had patients who say they have quit smoking many times, but have not made it permanently.
Galiatsatos recommends that people break their larger goal of quitting into smaller goals.
For example, learn regarding the different triggers that can make you want to smoke. In this way, you can be aware and find solutions for those actions.
Make it a learning experience
Most people who smoke quit eight to 12 times, due to the addiction of cigarettes, before quitting for good, Bricker explains.
Since relapses are so common, Bricker tells her patients to find a lesson they can learn from each experience.
“People will say things like, ‘I’ve learned how powerful these cravings are, or I’ve learned that watching my friend smoke was a big trigger for me, or I’ve learned that the stress in my life was a big trigger,'” Bricker said.
Patients should approach smoking cessation from the standpoint that the more they learn from their relapses, the greater their chance of quitting permanently, he said.
Discuss it with your doctor
People who want to quit smoking can talk to their doctor to develop a multi-strategy treatment plan, Galiatsatos said.
Doctors can prescribe medications to curb urges to smoke and make them more bearable, he said. It’s a short-term fix that helps train the brain not to crave so much, Bricker added.
The medications doctors provide will depend on the particular situation, Bricker said. Prescriptions tend to be minimal at first and then increase depending on the severity of the addiction.
Support people addicted to tobacco
Galiatsatos said he has never come across a patient who doesn’t know that smoking is bad, so he recommends avoiding that argument when appealing to a loved one who smokes.
“If you really want to help your loved one quit smoking, you have to approach it as a smoker and anti-smoking,” he said.
When trying to help someone who smokes, make it clear that you’re addressing the situation without stigmatizing or judging them, Galiatsatos said.
Once trust is established, she recommends that friends and family offer to help smokers find resources to quit.
Health care providers should also support their patients who smoke, Galiatsatos said.
If patients feel judged by their doctors for smoking, they may lie regarding it. And that doesn’t help anyone, she said.
Even when patients aren’t motivated to quit that day, it’s important to explain the different treatment options to them so they have the resources they need later.
Address the root problem
Many times when people smoke, it’s to deal with some underlying problem in their lives, such as stress or anxiety, Galiatsatos said. When faced with those emotions when quitting, it’s instinctive for them to turn to cigarettes.
“If they’ve always relied on cigarettes as a coping mechanism, and they don’t have a substitute, that’s all we’ll see,” he said.
To combat this challenge, Galiatsatos recommended that people trying to quit smoking seek behavioral counseling. This way they will be able to better identify why they smoked and work to find healthier ways to process those emotions.
And why is smoking so addictive?
Cigarettes are full of chemicals, like nicotine, that are chemically potentiated to create that addiction, explains Galiatsatos.
Chemically enhanced nicotine closely resembles the common neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which helps control muscle movement and other brain functions.
When nicotine locks into acetylcholine receptors, the body releases dopamine, the feel-good brain chemical. When the dopamine wears off, people start craving another cigarette.
“I always tell people that this is the most insidious addictive molecule known, because it doesn’t just cause an overdose,” says Galiatsatos, who is also a volunteer medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association.
It builds connections in the smoker’s brain for years and years, and “when someone realizes they’re stealing their health, it’s incredibly hard to break that addiction.”
