I recently read a newspaper article forecasting upcoming legislation that will increase the cost of cigarettes to $8.00 a pack. I am thinking that this might be a good incentive for smokers to give them up.
For those of you that have never smoked, you are probably thinking, "absolutely, quite now." Nicotine addicts wish it were that easy. As an ex-smoker I can empathize with the perceived trauma of saying good-bye to your best friend. It's not just a habit it is an intricate part of each day. Looking for a place to hide and light up takes time and ingenuity, making excuses for the right to continue polluting your longs takes courage and you have to be very fast with other less significant tasks, such as work because of required smoke breaks.
The cost of addiction was not a motivating issue for me, although I saw the price go up many times. I started at 25 cents per pack and quite at $2.50. I was still smoking when I was in my first year of nursing school. I didn't want any of the other nurses to know I smoked so I had to decontaminate myself before class. I could live with that inconvenience, what I couldn't live with, was the picture in my mind of becoming a patient with respiratory disease.
I feel grateful now for that hospital rotation in which I was assigned to care for several patients who were diagnosed with emphysema. The charge nurse gladly assigned this group to me because they have a reputation of being anxious, agitated, and argumentative and down right nasty. How would you act if every breath were a chore?
I think the final decision to toss out the cigarettes came for me when I noted the ever-present oxygen tank and prongs from the nasal cannula hanging from their nostrils. I couldn't imagine that any amount of make-up would camouflage that contraption. I just wasn't willing to live out my final days in that condition. Pure vanity was the kicker.
I missed my cigarettes for the first few months and I think now that it would have been so much easier if I had used hypnosis, particularly with the physical withdrawals. The nicotine gum tasted like soft asphalt so I tried the patch but was so frustrated, I took the patch off, smoked and put the patch back on. Some people are able to successfully use these as prescribed.
Hypnosis clients report immediate relief and profound relaxation. Acute nicotine withdrawals last approximately 72 hours and symptoms include anxiety and confusion, which explains why hypnosis produces comfort.
I actually guarantee my smoking program. The health benefits are extremely important not only to the ex-smoker but also to the second hand breathers and to all of us since chronic smokers will eventually require a myriad of medical services.
I do not agree with increasing the cost of cigarettes any more than I condone taxing cupcakes to punish obesity. The only proven way to entice an addict into giving up their escape behavior; gambling, work, food, alcohol, drugs, or nicotine is to offer a pleasurable alternative.
When you are ready to quit
- Cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke each day until you have that last few left. It will then be easier to imagine life without them.
- Pick a weekend or when you have a couple of days off so that you can plan something completely different and relaxing like an amusement park or the zoo. The animals will be good nonsmoking role models.
- Plan to have lots of crunchy healthy snacks like carrots and celery. I used sunflower seeds as they kept my hands busy. I also walked around with a straw cut about the size of a cigarette and sucked air when I got a craving. Cigarettes look equally silly.
I urge you to try hypnosis. A personal CD or tape to take home and listen to keeps you focused on staying quit. Even though your friends and family easily verbalize it, I know that no one wants you to be nicotine free more than you do.
(C) Copyright 2005, Pamela Harper
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