"QUITTING SMOKING CIGARETTES !"
             
                             JAMES A. HUNTER, MS, LPC, NSCA-CPT
                                                                                  
It is nothing new to most people that smoking cigarettes runs the risk of many possible adverse affects to one’s health. Research/Studies have demonstrated that when individuals stop smoking, their risk of tobacco related morbidity and mortality decreases significantly. Epidemiological information/data has established the relationship between cigarette smoking, tobacco use, and a multitude of physical disease states and problems. Cigarettes can exacerbate a number of physical problems.
                                            
Cardiovascular disease has been the number one cause of deaths in the United States which results in approximately 950,000 deaths each year annually. Epidemiological studies have confirmed a very strong and consistent association or relationship between smoking cigarettes and coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality.

There is certainly a physical component to addiction to cigarettes that is due to the physical addiction power of nicotine. There however are BEHAVIORAL and COGNITIVE aspects of the behavior of “smoking cigarettes.” I have seen people use physical interventions such using the nicotine patch, nicotine chewing gum, and even prescription drugs in an attempt quit smoking only to fail at their attempt. While such interventions such as a nicotine patch can be useful and helpful tools in quitting smoking, using such measures alone will not help you truly be successful for the long term in terms of quitting smoking cigarettes and incorporating a tobacco-free life into your overall lifestyle.

Smoking cigarettes regardless of what age it begins at is associated with various social variables ranging from peer pressure to a means of dealing with stress. There are “triggers” in the environment that precede many behaviors including the behavior of lighting up a cigarette. We as individuals also have our ways of maintaining a “cognitive frame-work” that enables us to keep smoking cigarettes despite our knowledge of the harmful affects of tobacco to our health.

If you want to Quit Smoking Cigarettes, the truth is there is no general magic formula for everyone. Some people wake up one day and decide that they have had enough and quit smoking cold turkey and never touch a cigarette again. Some people possess this type of will-power. Usually these individuals also possess the ability to realign their thoughts/attitudes with a position that reinforces them not lighting up another cigarette. While others try and try again only to light up a cigarette at the first “trigger” that overwhelms them such as becoming stressed over something they experience.

Quitting smoking will have Physical, Behavioral, and Mental/Cognitive components or aspects that will have an affect on your experience coming off of cigarettes/nicotine in terms of how you deal with the withdrawal from nicotine and the effects felt from stopping smoking.

 With a combination of Cognitive & Behavioral Counseling along with a good exercise program anyone can conquer and quit smoking for good! Where there is a will/desire, then there is a way to better health. We will identify and learn to control “triggers” in the environment that contribute to smoking behavior. We will aggressively examine and challenge attitudinal/thoughts that are barriers to stopping smoking behavior, and deal with any underlying emotional associations with smoking. Physical Exercise will also be key.

"The affects or withdrawal from cigarettes/nicotine are temporary and you will get through them."

These affects include: