How to quit smoking without going crazy

Having patients quit smoking is the trickiest dilemma doctors could face. Honestly, we wish smoking were just a disease. As such, we could do wonders with it, like prescribe medication that will eliminate nicotine hankerings forever. Nicotine patches and electronic cigarettes have helped some of the heaviest smokers quit, but there’s a caveat. The success rate for quitting with these paraphernalia may be due to personal willpower than the real effectiveness of the intervention. And personal willpower is precisely the thing lacking among stubborn smokers.

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The Ava Benedict clinic has had its share of wishful thinkers. Some of my patients who desire the smoke-free life think they can’t help but fall back into the routine. Some of them have anxieties or occupational stressors that they think could be eased by smoking.

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I always tell them that smoking is a momentary solution. Without smokers knowing it, one of the reasons smoking destresses is that it allows them to inhale. However, inhaling a hundred chemicals along with oxygen probably wouldn’t go a long way. I advise deep breathing exercises for my patients who want to get through the stressors and quit smoking.

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Those who have quit for some weeks suffer withdrawal symptoms like anxiety and restlessness. Then they think the culprit for their ill feelings is quitting smoking. I don’t take out the lung cancer card in this case, but I remind them that these withdrawal symptoms are for the short term, and that the gratifying feeling of being smoke-free after a month will be more encouraging. I push them to exercise to distance them further from their nicotine cravings, and closer to having cravings for health.

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