Help Stop Smoking

To help you to stop smoking, the behavioral and cognitive therapy is very effective: it should multiply by two the chances of success. More on this precious help.

In regards to smoking cessation, behavioral therapy holds techniques that are running smoothly.

Reinforce motivation…

The motivation is essential for the success of the cessation. It is necessary to strengthen the confidence the smoker has in his capacity of success. It goes through:

• The treatment of the ambivalence. Indeed the smoker knows well the inconveniences and the risks of smoking. But he also perceives qualities in his bad habit (concentration, etc.). It is thus necessary to help him measure the real influence of those fake advantages and the inconveniences;

• Reinforce the feeling of freedom of choice and particularly by letting him use the smoking avoidance strategies (chewing gums, inhaler);

• Reassure on the ability of success. Increase the feeling of "personal efficiency";

• Raise all the obstacles, in particular the unconfessed fears such as the fear of gaining weight, the weaning syndrome;

• Realize a "Top 4" of the reasons for stopping. Define this way foundations which can help to hold out when the motivation loses heart …

Prepare for smoking cessation

To finish it with the cigarette, it is essential to become aware of your daily consumption. The ideal tool is then the diary of all your cigarettes over a given period. It allows to clearly identifying which situations are associated with the reflex of grabbing a cigarette: coffee, meal, car …

Put out the triggered situations

Once the moments when we want to smoke are identified, it is necessary to be able to break this association. The purpose is not to light a cigarette on these occasions (without necessarily reducing the consumption at a first stage).

For example, it will be enough to shift the cigarette after the meal of a quarter of an hour, to begin to manage your behavior and "to put out" the conditioning.

Develop the social support

It is essential to set up a social support by announcing in particular your desire to stop smoking. Seeking for assistance among the close relations is essential (colleagues, family, friends and health professionals). The encouragements are precious. You should not hesitate also to ask them for a little indulgence in regards to irritability (because anger can make relapse!).

Manage your urge to smoke

It requires an apprenticeship and some precautions. It is necessary to avoid in particular the triggering situations: avoid other smokers, develop substitution activities, avoid moments of anxiety, practice physical activities … It is necessary to know that the envy to smoke is very temporary: it is not going to increase unlimitedly until we light a cigarette. In fact, it is going to grow then disappear in one to two minutes. It is thus necessary to hang on during this lapse of time. To help fighting it, some tricks can help: reissue your "Top 4", self encourage yourself, think of something pleasant, drink a big glass of water, make relaxation exercises…

A relapse, it is not the end of the world!

And if there is a relapse, the important is to minimize it, to strengthen the periods of abstinence and to identify more effective strategies. It is essential to know that any victory on the cigarette, even short-term, is always a step forward towards the definitive cessation!