Cigarettes Helps you Relax?

I've worked with a lot of people to quit smoking. In doing this, I have heard all kinds of reasons that it might be better if they kept smoking.

Smoking helps you think, relaxes you, de-stresses you, keeps you from getting upset at your family, tastes good with coffee, tastes really good after a meal. Basically, makes things "better" and makes you feel "better".

You don't believe these reasons. Not really. If you did, you wouldn't also want to quit smoking. Right? Actually you CAN have it both ways. You can believe your reasons to smoke at the same time you don't believe them. It is the difference between 'knowing' something and 'feeling' something.

The obvious and overlooked part is you must have a strong reason to continue smoking or you would have already stopped. By the way, there is no law that says your reason to keep smoking has to make any logical sense. It rarely does.

You've probably already proven your reasons untrue. Smoking might taste better with coffee because the coffee taste on your tongue covers the bad taste of smoking???

And most of the time you're AWARE it doesn't make sense. That doesn't change anything though, does it? Just one more log to toss on the fire of your motivation to quit. A fire that doesn't have much chance against the ocean of your craving to smoke.

There are two important sides to this. The feeling that smoking will make you feel better and, the feeling you want to feel better than. That's what needs to be changed.

If you're thirsty you crave something to drink. If you're hungry you crave food. If you feel bad (tired, stressed, overwhelmed, angry, lonely, whatever…) you want to feel good. And, whatever your mind has been taught feels good, you will crave.

This feeling to do something is what you probably call a craving. Many smokers have more than one type of craving going on. The 'after you wake up' craving might feel different than the 'after a meal' craving. The same principles apply.

So, what are you supposed to do? I can write several pages talking about this (and I have, look for them) But, it all comes down to modifying the feeling, motivation and belief involved.

First, the 'bad feeling' side of things needs to be addressed. If it's too much stress, get it managed, if it's a situation that makes you lonely, do what you can to fix it, or look for help.

Second, the belief that smoking makes you feel good (it is often the mistaken, and understandable, belief that smoking equals being an adult, in control, strong, capable, etc…) The fact is, smoking is some plant leaf and chemicals wrapped in paper. The good feeling you're looking for, and sometimes experience, is created by YOU. YOU make yourself feel better when you smoke. You can make yourself feel just as good when drinking a glass of water. If, your mind believes it.

And that's the bottom line. The bulk of the quit smoking issue is about behavior modification - changing the way you feel. That's why the success rate of most prescription medication and nicotine replacement (like the patch and nicotine gum) alone is so low. The only current exception is Chantix and even Pfizer, the makers of Chantix, recommend behavior modification go along with the medication.

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