Šalje: QuitSmokingTips [bwprice@quitsmokingsupport.com] Poslano: 26. veljača 2001 11:45 Prima: List Member Predmet: QuitSmokingTips - Volume 3 Number 10 QuitSmokingTips - http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ..................................................................... Sunday February 25, 2001 *** Volume 3 Number 10 *** ..................................................................... ...IN THIS ISSUE... 1 What's New on QuitSmokingSupport.com 2. Who Me . . . Stop Smoking Again? 3. Did you know that... ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS: Quit Smoking with the help of an artificial cigarette. Keeps your hands, mouth and mind busy, without the deadly smoke. http://www.quitsmoking.com/ez.htm ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` TRAIN YOUR MIND TO FINALLY STOP SMOKING FOREVER. Mental imagery and addiction specialist, Marvin H. Berenson, M.D. has developed a program that trains your mind to quit smoking permanently. The Think Yourself Smokeless program includes a step-by-step booklet, a motivational journal and an audiotape. Money back guarantee. Go to http://www.thinkyourselfsmokeless.com for more information and a free newsletter. Order the program online today and receive a valuable free bonus. You have nothing to lose but a dangerous habit. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` "SMOKESAVER" turns your computer into a virtual therapist. By replacing your screen saver, SmokerSaver drops in on you several times a day, every day ? bite-sized instalments that accumulate into a comprehensive 30-day course. This powerful interactive guide shadows you throughout the day, initially assessing your habit, then advising you, monitoring your progress, supporting and inspiring you, until you reach your ultimate goal of being a non-smoker. Visit: http://www.SmokerSaver.com for more information! ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 1. What's New on QuitSmokingSupport.com Thinking about quitting smoking? Get some of the most interactive online support available at: http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/76750 Visit our Amazon.com bookstore at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/amazon.htm Over 15 excellent quitting smoking books to help you to quit smoking! Add your name to our growing list of over 3,300 ex-smokers at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/feedback.htm ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 2. Who Me . . . Stop Smoking Again? by: Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D. If you are a smoker or tobacco chewer, you've probably heard it all at one time or another - the desperate pleas and threats from family, the "serious warnings" from doctors, and the snide remarks from people who don't even know you. You probably are smart enough to realize what you need to do. BUT YOU JUST CAN'T. Well, you are not alone. Most tobacco users are stuck in the same boat with you. They've tried to stop, but have realized they are addicted to nicotine, and just don't know what to do about it. Worse yet, helping professionals often aren't educated about the scientific findings that clearly show how to help you. Usually, one way or another, they end up telling you to "just get some willpower and do it!" Fortunately, researchers have uncovered the probable causes of your discomfort when you stop using tobacco. Nicotine works on the nervous system in two ways, it is a mild relaxant and a mild stimulant,depending on the situation. Its potency comes not in the level of mood shift, but in the frequency one uses it to shift mood. If you are a bit drowsy and light up to make yourself more alert, you've shifted your mood slightly. If you are irritable or nervous and you light up to "take a break and relax," then you are using nicotine to shift your mood. To make matters worse, many people tend toward either depression or anxiety with increased age. Using nicotine for decades often hides the body's natural shift toward depression and anxiety. Using nicotine helps older people keep these reactions somewhat under control, or at least more under control than otherwise. When they stop using nicotine, their real state of depression or anxiety surfaces and overwhelms them. Add to these bodily effects the "habit" component - the loss of a 200 - 600 time-per-day, soothing, medicating activity (puffs on a cigarette). Add to that the normal two week withdrawal symptoms,and it often is just too difficult to even try anymore. You might never want to try again, but here are some tips for the wise who just don't give up: Look back on your family history. Did you have a parent who tended toward depression and/or anxiety? If they lived a long life, did their symptoms get worse when they were your age? If you have depression and/or anxiety in your family history, consider the possibility that you've been "medicating" your genetic predisposition toward depression or anxiety with nicotine. If this is so, find a "medication" with fewer negative side effects. Anti-depressants are often the best choice because their side effects are not as lethal as nicotine when taken according to directions. (Nicotine is the only substance sold over the counter that, when taken according to directions, will kill you.) Antidepressants can be used to help with anxiety as well as depression. Talk with your physician. If you already are taking antidepressants, do not increase your dose without consulting your physician. You might need another type of antidepressant instead. Also, let your physician know of your plan to stop using tobacco. If you choose to try one of these medications, start taking it at least 3 weeks before your next attempt to stop using tobacco. It will take at least that long to see if the medication is the right one for you. Make sure you are stabilized on a medication before stopping smoking, chewing, or dipping tobacco. Watch for interactions with other medication you might be taking. Talk to your physician about using the nicotine patch or nicotine gum. These products have been shown effective in helping people through the withdrawal symptoms. If you use the patch or gum, follow directions and use them for at least 6-8 weeks. If they didn't work the last time you tried, try again. You might need something extra, like coaching, rather than eliminating the gum or patch altogether. If you've failed repeatedly, hire a coach. Increasing numbers of counselors are getting specialized training to be able to help you benefit from scientific research. Such help is available in two formats: group and individual sessions for learning a comprehensive behavioral program. Make the necessary investment of money and time. Use psychology to your benefit. Tell yourself that you'll get all the help you can find, and then become "willing to go to any length" to reach your goal. Haven't you gone to extraordinary lengths to use tobacco in your life? Give yourself the benefit of at least that much effort to stop using tobacco. Keep at it. The average smoker needs four solid attempts to quit smoking before they are successful. That means some people can do it in one attempt, and others might need ten all-out efforts. Success has tremendous advantages in terms of improved quality of life. Don't do it for "someone you love." This type of motivation rarely passes the test of time. Make a list of the reasons YOU want to quit, and stop passing the buck to others. Put yourself in the driver's seat. Once you've taken responsibility for your own situation, you'll be in a much better position to handle any difficulty that arises. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 3. Did you know that... The actual benefits of quitting. A 42-year old male smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day has about a 1 in 5 chance of dying within 17 years. If they quit, that risk is reduced to 1 in 10. Cravings may not be due to nicotine withdrawal. Nicotine withdrawal is a physical affliction which lasts for two or three weeks. Beyond that period, "cravings" are entirely based on psychological factors: exposure to common "triggers" to smoking, and lack of alternative ways of coping with stressful situations. There are as many ex-smokers alive as there are smokers. In Canada --and the United States is very similar-- 47% of the people who have ever smoked and are still alive haven't smoked in the past six months. That means that for every smoker, there's an ex-smoker. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of QuitSmokingSupport.com. We want this newsletter to be the best one around. If you have suggestions, ideas, or feedback about this newsletter, feel free to email us at support@quitsmokingsupport.com Please feel free to pass this newsletter along to anyone you know who may benefit from it! To unsubscribe to this newsletter, please go to http://www.listbot.com/ (c) Copyright 1995-2001 QuitSmokingSupport.com Take care and have a great week! Blair support@quitsmokingsupport.com QuitSmokingSupport.com http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to quitsmokingtips-unsubscribe@listbot.com