Sunday, August 9, 2009

Stopping Smoking

By Mike James

Once a person decides that it's high time he or she stopped smoking, it is best to start immediately. However, how do you quit smoking, when you have been smoking for a number of years? Smoking is a very difficult addiction to break because tobacco contains the compound called nicotine which is addictive to both the mind and body.

Several studies have shown that every time you smoke a cigarette, it costs you about 5 to 20 minutes of your life. Besides weakening the body, smoking leaves a person with halitosis, yellow teeth, wrinkles, lower bone density, fertility problems that will eventually affect the sexual health of both men and women and a higher risk of becoming infected with deadly diseases such as lung cancer. Smoking is costly and can reduce the life span of a person by about 10 years or even more.

Methods to quit smoking can be seen in many places and there are also many kinds of medication that can be prescribed. Some smokers are prescribed nicotine replacements such as nicotine gums, nicotine patches, lozenges, inhalers, etc. But the problem with all these is that they deal mostly with the physical aspect of what smoking does to the body. The truth is that more than the body, it is the mind that is addicted to smoking.

The hardest part of stopping smoking comes when trying to deal with the mind. A smoker's mind often becomes convinced that their happiness, enjoyment and leading a stress free life, all depend on smoking. Understanding the fact that this is just not true is one of the pivotal issues in quitting smoking.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when attempting to stop smoking, is the cessation of such relationships in the mind. Smokers believe that they have to smoke a cigarette to help them deal with daily issues. Once you are able to conquer this problem, in time your mind will learn to deal with daily activities without needing a cigarette.

A good piece of advice when trying to stop smoking can be to attend counselling sessions and get advice from someone who is an ex-smoker, ie a person who has undergone similar experiences. Talking about your fears about stopping smoking and thereby relieving the fears you have by going to such sessions can be helpful to anyone who is trying to stop smoking.

If you have decided that you should to give up smoking, don't hesitate, grab the bull by the horns and start stopping now. You will soon start to notice the difference to your health. You will find that exercising will be easier, your fitness level will rise dramatically, food will taste far better and your mouth will be fresher.

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