Quit Smoking? Here Are Some Ways to Avoid Relapsing

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There’s no denying that smoking can be a tough habit to give up. According to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), around 14% of the population are smokers. You’re likely reading this today because you’ve quit smoking but worry you might relapse.

Thankfully, there are some practical steps you can take to avoid slipping back into your old ways. As you can imagine, different strategies work for different people, so it’s just a case of finding out which approach works best for you specifically.

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Check out these actionable strategies you can follow to remain smoke-free and lead a healthier and happier lifestyle:

Educate Yourself

Did you know that many people don’t fully understand the implications and dangers to their health of smoking regularly? The government has made tobacco companies put graphic warnings on their packaging and not use any branding.

That’s gone some way to educating people about the dangers of smoking, but it’s not enough. Education is a massive part of the process to quit smoking for good, and it also dispels many myths some smokers take as fact.

For example, some smokers assume that it’ll be a long time before they need to worry about medical conditions like lung cancer, emphysema, and the myriad of other diseases that smoking can directly cause.

Those smokers may even fool themselves into thinking they will never get affected by those problems because it “only happens to other people” – except that’s rarely the case. The health problems caused by smoking don’t discriminate.

Smoking-related illnesses and diseases can target people regardless of age, weight, height, skin colour, or even how much they smoke each day.

That’s why it’s crucial to educate yourself properly on the effects of smoking and what happens to your body when you stop smoking for good.

Retrain Your Brain

Another reason some people end up relapsing after quitting smoking is that they simply have the wrong attitude. For instance, they might romanticise smoking and tell themselves that smoking adds value to their lives and that it’s “not a bad habit to have.”

Of course, smoking is extremely harmful, both to you and those around you that happen to inhale your cigarette smoke passively. With that in mind, you need to retrain your brain and adjust your mindset and “self-talk.”

Instead of telling yourself that you miss smoking, you need to say to yourself that cravings are a sign of the healing process, and you’re trying to reprogram the associations to smoking you’ve built up over the years.

Some ex-smokers might even tell themselves that smoking made their lives more enjoyable or bearable. What they should be saying is smoking slowly killed them, and the nicotine addiction isn’t worth cutting their lives short over.

Find Other Ways to Channel Your Stress

It’s a well-known fact that many people smoke when they feel stressed or anxious. It gives them some “release” – a temporary escape from the things in their lives that cause them stress each day.

Now that you’re a non-smoker, you’ll need to find other ways to channel that stress so that you don’t end up relapsing. The good news is, there are many alternatives to smoking that can help you de-stress.

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For example, many ex-smokers find that vaping using nicotine-free e liquid or CBD e liquid lets them do something like smoking but won’t end up causing long-term health problems. Of course, there are other things you can also do to de-stress, such as:

Some ex-smokers may even benefit from hypnotherapy or counselling to target the root causes of stress in their lives. Others may take more drastic measures like socially disassociating themselves from people that increase their stress levels.

Take up New Pastimes

When you’ve got free time on your hands, you may have spent much of that time smoking and felt that it became second nature to you. However, now that you’re a non-smoker, you need to occupy your free time with positive actions.

One of the best ways to achieve that goal is by taking up new pastimes and hobbies. For example, you could sign up for a new class in your area and learn a new skill, or you could join a social group where everyone shares a common passion for something.

When you’re doing something positive in your spare time, you aren’t thinking about smoking.

Final Thoughts

Quitting smoking is by no means a quick and easy journey to have. However, with the proper physical support and mental tools at your disposal, you can get through the process and lead a healthier and happier life.

This is a collaborative post

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