Smoking harms people not only actively but passively as well. The primary cause for the habit of smoking is considered to be stress, but it increases people’s susceptibility of and even leads to plenty of health hazards if one has been smoking for long. Researchers have suggested some effective methods for smoking cessation to help people quit the habit of tobacco consumption. Here’s how to effectively quit this habit and ensure a speedy recovery.
Set a quit date
One must mark the calendar, tell friends and family about the date picked, and make up their mind to quit smoking completely on that date. Also, they should prepare to handle any withdrawal symptoms, identify what triggers the craving to smoke, and come up with strategies to deal with those triggers. Start working out to lose weight, and find healthy distractions to keep their hands and mind busy.
Go “cold turkey”
One of the effective methods for smoking cessation is to reduce smoking gradually over a period of a couple of weeks, or one could go cold turkey and quit it at once on the set date. A research conducted shows that the cold turkey method was much more effective than the gradual reduction.
Ask for support
Although a lot of people are successful in quitting smoking on their own, many need additional support. There are several ways to get this support, from counselors to mobile apps and telephone conversations. Some counseling programs also provide free nicotine patches, and several countries also have government websites that help people quit the habit.
Opt for treatment
Nowadays, several medical treatments are available as effective methods for smoking cessation, including nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline, or bupropion, combined with counseling. These medications may also help deal with withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and other side effects, and they can be used when one has not quit smoking completely. Varenicline and bupropion take some time to work, so they should be started several weeks in advance as prescribed by the doctor: