Advertisement-Fear of Relapse

Have you ever seen the commercial where the guy walks around holding a phone to his ear asking the question, "Can you hear me now?" Yep the Verizon commercial, that's the one. Or how about the one where a little green gecko with an accent talks about car insurance. Do you know that one? Right again, Geiko insurance. We automatically associate the guy with glasses with Verizon or the gecko with Geiko insurance, because we have been bombarded with these commercials over and over until it has been branded into our subconscious. What does that have to do with relapse though? Let me ask you another question. Before coming to this website and you thought of quitting smoking, what thoughts did you associate quitting smoking with? For me, the thoughts were, nicotine is more addictive than either cocaine or heroin. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things to do. The chance of success is very low and the chance of relapse is very high. Why did I automatically associate these things with quitting? Because for years and years, this was the message that allmost all "quitting smoking experts" were telling smokers. They never fully explained why this was, just that it was. Just like a commercial being played over and over it finally became burned into my subconscious to associate quitting with this information. My past track record for quitting is horrible!! I've ony had 1 multiple week quit, but most of my quits were either a day or two and even an hour or two. Not to make excuses, but I can understand why now. My whole understanding of nicotine addiction and quitting was that nicotine is more addictive than either cocaine or heroin. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things to do. The chance of success is very low and the chance of relapse is very high. By relasping, it was as almost as if I did the quit by the book as far as what I knew then. The truth is,stop smoking, anything is hard to do when you don't know how to do it and relapse is a very common occurence when quitting, but that doesn't mean that it is a necessary part of quitting. I've read quite a few articles about quitting in either the newpaper or magazines.I've also seen quite a few websites on "experts" giving advice on quitting. Most of the time I see the same advice being given. They tell you to set a quit date. Prepare for the date. Throw all smoking paraphanelia away on the date. Tell your friends and family that you're quitting and find a support group. They usually give you tips on eating and maybe talk about using tookpicks or something to replace the cigarettes when you first quit. This is great information to give to someone to quit smoking, but there is one problem. This information only tells you how to start your quit. Usually there is no more information being given after that. If a person quitting is not being given any new valuable information to help erase what their pre conceived notion of what quitting is. What usually happens is they revert back to the thoughts of what they allready think quitting is.. What's been burned into their subconscious for so long.The thoughts that quitting is very hard, The chance of success is very low and the chance of relapse is very high. If a person starts to revert back to these thoughts, what sometimes starts to happen is they start to have doubts. They start to wonder what event or situation is going to be the one that is going to make them smoke again. Which one is going to come out of nowhere and snatch away their quit. Instead of celebrating the fact that they're actually successfully quitting smoking. They start to focus on the fear of losing their quit. This feeling is usually amplified when they see someone who has been quit for a signifcant period of time and relapses. They figure that this person hasn't smoked for a long time and still fell victim to the cigarette. Why should they be any different? They might start thinking that the act of quitting must be forever. That they will allways be a hopeless nicotine addict that has to look over their shoulder for the nicodemon. First off, I can assure you that there is no big bad nicodemon that is going to come and just snatch your quit away when you least expect it. Nobody and nothing can ever take your quit away from you. When any ex-smoker that has not smoked for any significant period of times relapses, it is not from any physical need for nicotine. They might have smoked because they thought that after not smoking for so long that they were cured and could have one for old time sake. Maybe they were having a real bad day and unfortunately thought that a cigarette could help them get through it. Unfortunately, they found out, that not only did that cigarette not help them through that bad day, but it ruined that day for them and the day after and the day after and so on. Whatever reason they smoked. That person consciously made a decision to smoke a cigarette. It didn't sneak up on them and steal away their quit. I guess I can never post without this part. That is why education is essential to successfully quitting. I think we all have had a pre conceived notion of what quitting smoking was or is. Usually these pre conceived notions are not healthy ones to have and also not a very accurate view of what nicotine addiction or the act of quitting and life after smoking really is. Education will change these views and we will see that smoking is a lie. Quitting smoking is not as hard when you truly learn how to do it. Relapse is not a natural part of quitting and life after quitting is truly amazing! The act of quitting does not last forever. There will come a time very soon when you will be able to put your quit into cruise control and just enjoy it. You will find a comfort that you haven't felt since before your quit.When that happens all you need to remember is Never Take Another Puff.