Common Factors for Quitting Smoking

There are many research results and study findings regarding smoking cessation - some are very surprising and some are just common myths. For example, in cases where long-term smokers successfully quit permanently, here are some common factors that show up regularly:

They did not suffer more than very moderate physical withdrawal symptoms.

They lost the psychological need to smoke almost immediately.

They did not experience any of the difficulties that are traditionally linked by smokers to giving up such as lack of concentration.

They described it as 'easy', 'painless', 'no big deal' or a 'non-event'.

In short, the smokers did not experience the pain and horrors often associated anecdotally with withdrawal. They discovered that the freedom from the stress of being a smoker, and the new-found independence in being a non-smoker, brought simple pleasures they had forgotten were even possible and indeed normal.

The sense of freedom from cigarettes is probably the most overwhelming sensation.

Almost all regretted that they had not done what little they had to do many years ago.

Sadly, a very large percentage of smokers are simply unaware of these findings, even after decades of published evidence in some cases. It seems the myths about quitting smoking originate mostly from smokers who fail to quit, rather than those who succeed, as smokers, like others, tend to justify their failures.

Common factors were at work in the case of hundreds of thousands who were once as hopelessly imprisoned by the habit as you may be, and successfully gave it up. These common factors offer keys to anyone making the break today so why reinvent the wheel?

The subjects themselves, however, were not necessarily aware of just what happened in their mind to bring about the lifetime change. The mental processes in successful smoking cessation are the vital knowledge that provides the key to quitting quickly, easily and permanently.

There is no magic in this approach to quitting smoking. The solution does not lie in a wonder potion - or any physical product at all. In each case certain conditions and methods were knowingly or unknowingly followed.

The solution, in every case, involves a large psychological element, and depends upon a person's attitude, beliefs and lifestyle - we are all different. It engages the whole mental process. Fortunately, the mental changes needed are all within your control - you just need to know the issues involved and how to go about it. You can start by adopting the characteristics of successful quitters in the list above. These are no more than common sense and within your control to apply in your own case.