How To Stop Cigarette Cravings

How To Stop Cigarette Cravings

In this most recent Hub, David Bradley, author of How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, examines three powerful and effective techniques to handle cigarette craving anytime and anywhere.

Give it a look over and feel free to comment on the Hub itself.  Always appreciate the feedback!

Smoke Your Mind and Napoleon Hill Wisdom

In my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I talk about one of the motivating factors for me to stop smoking. It came when I realized I was out of control. There comes a time after about 6 and half hours or so without a cigarette when you realize that if you don't have a cigarette and like right now, someone very well might get hurt. Granted I am slightly exaggerating but the nic-fit is real.

It soon began to bother me to be under Big-Tobacco's spell so powerfully. I got started smoking as a way to separate myself from others, to flaunt and solidify my identity. Or at least so I thought. The reality was in no time instead of being the individual I wanted to be I was just like everyone else... hooked. Smoking lost it's romance for me and it was time to kick the habit.

I thought of this moment in my life in late 2001 when I realized smoking wasn't all it's cracked up to be... or rather, it's more like crack than you think. I thought of this moment when I saw this quote from Napoleon Hill

"Control your own mind, and you may never be controlled by the mind of another.

The mind is the most powerful weapon known to man. It simply cannot be controlled or contained by an outside force, however formidable that force may at first appear. Throughout history, tyrants have tried to control those who opposed them, but eventually these rulers discovered the power of the imagination was far greater than the threat of the sword. As Victor Hugo said, "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."

Big Tobacco, like any good drug dealer has control of your mind and directs your thoughts towards one more cigarette. It is with this mind, such a powerful weapon indeed, that you will conquer your addiction to nicotine and cigarettes.

Your mind is the best tool for meeting the challenge to stop smoking. You can use a patch, chew the gum, tinker with water vapor cigarettes, and any other nicotine delivery device you can think of, but sooner or later it will boil down to you making a conscious decision with your mind to not light up.


I used my mind to stop smoking and you can to.  In fact, you will have to.  My mission now it to get my book into the hands of 5000 smokers who want to be non smokers.  


So if you found this blog and you're still smoking, or you think you've quit but feel yourself wavering and loosing control, consider this, I, like you, struggled through the process and found a way to not only stop, but stay stopped.  Perhaps destiny or God brought you here and perhaps you should give this book a read.  I will leave it up to you of course, but deciding to finally stop once and for all could very well be the best decision you've ever made...  next to deciding to get a copy of my book!

Anxiety Makes Quitting Smoking Harder

I recently stumbled upon this article:

http://fyiliving.com/depression/anxiety-makes-quitting-smoking-harder/

Sometimes, the blog finds you...

This article covers a study by the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention where 1500 smokers were analyzed.

You can read the study here:  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03173.x/abstract

What grabbed me most was this, "To understand the relations among anxiety disorders and tobacco dependence, withdrawal symptoms, response to smoking cessation pharmacotherapy and ability to quit smoking."

Pharmacothera...  what?

Pharmacotherapy:  the treatment of disease through the administration of drugs.

OH!  That!  When you see big words like that, feel free to get a little anxious.  I know I always do.  In fact, I'm thinking about reaching for a smoke right now I'm so anxious!

But I digress, really.  Here's the deal, some folks went out to answer the question, "If you suffer from anxiety AND smoke cigarettes, will it be harder to quit?"

Their findings:  "Anxiety diagnoses were common among treatment-seeking smokers and were related to increased motivation to smoke, elevated withdrawal, lack of response to pharmacotherapy and impaired ability to quit smoking. These findings could guide treatment assignment algorithms and treatment development for smokers with anxiety diagnoses."

This leaves me with one major question:  Who in the #%&* funded this?  Are you serious?  Is this some kind of joke?  Can you say no brainer?  I can.  If I was 11 years old the phrase "no-duh" would be ringing out load and proud!

So, just so we're clear here, not only is smoking getting put into the disease category instead of the disease CAUSING category, it is now official that if you've been anxious for a while and you smoke, then quitting is going to be a bitch.

Dude, quitting is already a bitch!  As if I wasn't anxious enough, now you're telling me withdrawals will be elevated, no motivation, and what's all this pharmaco-whatever talk? 

Look, I won't hide it, I've suffered from anxiety my whole life.  Why do you think I started smoking?  At least the real reason.  The subtext of it all...  suddenly that nicotine relaxed me.  Evened out my brain chemistry or at least covered up the feelings.  Why do people become alcoholics?  Drug Addicts?  Self-Medication is a prime factor.  Even if the soon to be addict isn't aware of it.  It's quite simple really.  The knots and butterflies, the nausea, the tight chest and diaphragm, the sensation that I might crap myself, all that stuff suddenly goes away when I have a cigarette and I can think clearer.  These thoughts process faster than a light going on so it never has time to fully register, but there it is.  Smoke this, feel better.  Self medication.
 

The article wraps up with this amazing insight:  "The results of this study demonstrate that habitual smoking may be caused by more factors than nicotine addiction."

Speaking of being 11 years old again and excuse the language, but a "no shit Sherlock!" is the only appropriate comment here.

Look folks, especially the ones still making the decision to continue smoking, smoking is a decision you make every time you light up.  In my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I contend that for most people, especially if you, like me, suffer from anxiety disorder, it is impossible to quit.  So don't bother trying.  It is however, VERY possible to stop smoking.

After all that is the name of this blog...  stop, don't quit.  For more on that, you'll have to read the book.  Yes, I am in this for the money!  Not really, I'm kidding...  sort of.  What I am in it for, more than anything,  is to help people make the decision to stop smoking and to give themselves the permission they need to love themselves just enough to finally knock this passive aggressive from of suicide off once and for all.


I find it disturbing that someone needed "scientific evidence" to establish a "treatment algorithm" for smokers with anxiety disorder.  I don't think a word like that should be anywhere near a discussion about treatment for individuals.  It's too sterile for me.  Then again, I'm not a scientist.  I'm too left brain for any of that.


Anyway, there's my 2 cents on that.  This blog was intended to seriously analyze the study and the article but as I kept reading the article and the study I found it near impossible to take it seriously and while smoking cessation is serious and should not be taken lightly, this article to me, gives too much power to nicotine and cigarettes and diminishes the human spirit and human potential to overcome a condition.  Especially a condition (nicotine addiction) one imposed on them self.