Smoking is the second cause of death globally.
“Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.”
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO QUIT SMOKING?
using nicotine patches to taper off the nicotine and reduce withdrawal symptoms
healthy substitute for the hand-to-mouth action
Remind yourself of the benefits of quitting smoking
List your personal reasons for quitting smoking.
Start a holistic lifestyle change: eating healthy and exercising. Set your goals to change your life. Goal setting helps create a vision for your future that you can more easily follow.
Use emotional regulation techniques to reduce your stress while quitting
Try massage, nature walks, yoga, breathing exercises, prayer, meditation...
Remember that cravings last 15-20 min. Make sure you have a list of options you can do to survive each craving. Enlist a go-to-friend to help you through cravings.
Select a low stress period to quit (holidays). The toughest period is the first two weeks. (The nicotine clears out of your body within the first week)
Find a social support group to get you through the tough times- friends who will join you on your journey and keep you strong when you are feeling weak. (Avoid friends who smoke or ask them not to smoke in your presence).
Try hypnotherapy videos
SHOULD YOU USE VAPING TO QUIT SMOKING?
Some health agencies recommend vaping (Vaping starter kit) to quit smoking as it contains less harmful substances than cigarettes (vapes contain propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, flavourings and nicotine) and allows for the control of nicotine level by selecting different strength cartridges.
This strategy is not ideal for the following reasons:
it sustains hand-to-mouth action
it reinforces the association between smoking and socialising
it maintains the stress relief incentive from puffing air
it contains propylene glycol with unknown long-term effects. It may irritate the upper airways.
it contains nicotine- a highly addictive and harmful substance:
It increases the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal disorders
decreases immune response
impacts reproductive health negatively
causes oxidative stress & cell death
Contributes to DNA mutation & cancer
Quitting smoking and vaping is not easy. But nothing worthwhile come easy in life. Your life and health are worth your effort and commitment.
It’s in your hands. You can do it.
Check out these smoking cessation resources (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
About the author
Abir Ballan has a Masters in Public Health, a graduate degree in special needs education and a BA in psychology. She is a children’s author with 27 published books.
I cannot support this kind of action for the simple reasons that people must be allowed free choice. People are responsible for their own actions. I don't believe anyone has the right to impose their view on others and make it a crime if they do not support it.
Yes smoking can be harmful, but I would not agree the Worldometer data that "Smoking is the second cause of death globally". That data is highly manipulable and is a part of BMGF to drive an opinion for the WHO. There are more deaths caused by war and Government response. That was clearly demonstrated in the time of (convid19) by Prof D Rancourt excess death using all cause mortality data.
The other point is that the claims of second hand smoke (passive smoking) from cigarettes being dangerous has never been supported. It is simply fear mongering to get support for a cause of Busybodyism.
And then it must be taken into account that the attack on smoking was invented to extort money from an industry and punish its customers- Suggest this document (E86722 Seventh Futures Forum) is analyzed and the Godper Blueprint is studied.
I am an ex smoker who decided to stop. My whole family smoked and no one died of cancer.
Totally. I wish we'd met when I worked in Public Health... I felt like a heretic!