What is the best method to quit smoking? Suddenly or gradually?

Smoking kills about 8 million people around the world each year. Most two-finger smokers fear that sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

Thus, millions of people around the world want to overcome their addiction to tobacco, but they ask themselves: what is the best method to quit smoking? Quit smoking suddenly from one day to the next, or stop smoking gradually, little by little, gradually? In this article I explain it to you.

• Related article: "The 14 most important types of addictions"

Is it bad to quit smoking overnight?

For some people it can be good, for others it can be a real hell. Let's face it: every person is different. And I'm not just talking about your opinions and ideas, but about your metabolism and your genetics.

There are people who when they try to quit tobacco suddenly, with a fierce “tomorrow no longer I smoke more ”they do it with hardly any anxiety or mono or physical symptoms of withdrawal symptoms. tobacco. But only some people.

If you take a walk through Internet forums and Facebook groups, you will read that most people repeat without stop the same copy-and-paste speech of "all you need is willpower, leave it right now and go he is ". However, no matter how beautiful we paint it, reality is not so sweet for all people.

As I told you before, individual differences matter whether we like it or not. There are people who suffer a lot of anxiety when they try to quit tobacco overnight. And anxiety does not usually kill people, but in the case of smoking we have to take it into account.

With anxiety, it is much more difficult to maintain abstinence. When a person suffers from nicotine withdrawal anxiety, they are much more likely to relapse in tobacco, because smoking is the fastest way to "calm" the unpleasant symptoms of the syndrome abstinence.

Simply, Quitting Suddenly Doesn't Work for Everyone. It is not a question of willpower or attitude. It is biological.

Let's review the points against trying to quit suddenly:

• Increased anxiety in many people
• More likely to relapse later
• It focuses on "motivation" and it does not last forever

The Advantages of Quitting Smoking Gradually

Below I am going to comment on some of the advantages and benefits of quitting smoking little by little:

1. Self-awareness of consumption habits as a smoker

A very common mistake among people trying to get rid of tobacco is skipping the self-awareness phase. and become familiar with their own consumption habits.

The majority of smokers who cannot quit have something in common: they have not dedicated themselves to observing with attention when they smoke, when they smoke, how they smoke, with whom they smoke, what they feel before, during and after smoking a cigarette.

Using an old metaphor, it is very difficult to beat the dragon if you do not know its weak points.

2. Mental preparation to quit smoking on D-day

When a smoker has done that previous work of observation well, he can become mental and reduce his daily cigarettes in a strategic way.

Thus, when you mark the day from which you will not smoke again on your calendar, you can make the right mental preparation and get there with the best chance of success.

Many people mark a day on the calendar without thinking much about whether it is the smartest thing or the most realistic thing to do., and sometimes they get unpleasant surprises, such as that that day "comes very quickly", or it becomes harder than they imagined, or that they had not thought about what they were going to do when they came across other smokers or went to the "usual" places without smoking or buying tobacco. And they realize that talking is much easier than doing.

3. Learn to avoid relapses to smoking

Tobacco addiction is one of the "simplest" if we compare it with other addictions such as gambling, cocaine or alcohol, which are more complex and difficult to overcome. This is why so many people are successful when they try to quit smoking for a few days or a few weeks.

It reminds me a lot of the first days of January, when gyms and parks fill with people with very good intentions and motivation, to be empty again before February arrives.

Most people who try to quit without preparing for relapse... relapses. Is a reality. If it were not like that, we would not have almost 30% of the population addicted to tobacco. Most smokers have tried to quit, and very few succeed without help. There are statistics that speak of 95% of attempts that end in failure.

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You want to quit smoking? I am an addiction psychologist, and I have prepared an online course that hundreds of people like you have already signed up for. If you are serious about quitting smoking, contact me and I will guide you on your way to breathing with vitality again.