Smoking Cessation

It’s hard to quit smoking, but it can be done.

I smoked cigarettes for many years, during which I also quite smoking many times. Nicotine helped manage my anxiety (as it does for many) and helped me find community in the smoking pit. Smoking became a key element of my identity. 

Quitting was full of self-discovery every time. Figuring out what supports are helpful for quitting and what just doesn’t work for me. The mind games I play on myself and excuses I make to have just one cigarette (when I knew very well that there was never just one). Quitting made me a more self-aware human.

I did not quit on my own. I had a good friend checking in on me regularly, nicotine replacement therapy, an herbal tincture, lots of chewing gum, and regular acupuncture treatments.

The odds of quitting on our own without any supports is very low, but there’s a lot of supports available that are supported by research. Nicotine replacement therapy and a few pharmaceutical agents have been found to improve success rates, often showing an increasing the chances of success by double. And although studies so far have failed to show a significant benefit from acupuncture compared to placebo (sham acupuncture, which is still acupuncture!), many of these studies are of low quality and clients frequently report cravings decreasing or disappearing for a while with acupuncture treatment.

“You will likely get better at quitting every time you try.”

My general suggestion would be to seek out support from a friend or professional who has experience in this area and put a plan in place together, even if you haven’t decided on a date yet. Knowing you have supports in place for when you quit could make the idea of quitting less intimidating. 

A great book to get you started before you quit: Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Quite Smoking (no affiliation). It walked me though a lot of the mind games and challenges I would face every time I quit.

And in all this, a sense of curiosity can be incredibly helpful. To approach the experience as an experiment: how do I feel when I quit smoking? How does it feel after 3 days? How bad are my cravings and how long do they last? And if for whatever reason you end up having a cigarette, try finding some compassion for yourself. You can always quit again, and you will likely get better at it every time.