Psychological Recovery Stages to Stop Smoking

Many smokers are only slightly bothered by physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, but experience a lot more trouble with the psychological nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Getting over the psychological loss can be very complex. It may even take several months for you to restructure a lifestyle without smoking.

Our reaction to quit smoking can be like our reaction to death. Something dear to you is gone forever. It was something that was dangerous, but it was something that you were used to and liked in many ways, maybe because it made you feel sophisticated or able to manage things or attractive or sexy. Maybe it relaxed you and put you in a better mood.

Think of giving up smoking like the death of a close friend. Cigarettes have been your friend. They were always there for you. They didn't tell you that you were making mistakes or that you were being unreasonable.

They never got angry at you or demanding except when you ran out in the middle of the night. Instead, they made you feel more relaxed and confident about what you were doing.

Almost anytime we experience a major change in our life, we grieve for the old order before we can make room for the new. Basically, quitting smoking boils down to five emotional levels that most everyone who is a long-time smoker faces. And they are:

• Denial
• Anger
• Depression
• Bargaining
• Acceptance

Denial

Denial is our mind's first way of protecting us from a sudden change or loss. People who lose a friend or family member say they feel numb. This is what we call a psychological defense mechanism.

All mentally healthy people have this defense. For a smoker, this means that, even though you know the significance of quitting smoking, you may not want to believe it. Here are some common denial statements:

• "I know I should quit, but I'm not sure I want to."
• "Cigarettes don't affect my health like they do others. I'm not huffing and puffing."
• "Cigarettes haven't been proven harmful."
• "I'm not addicted."
• "This quitting thing is easy - I can do it anytime, just not today."
• You've already started the quitting process, so you've gone past this denial stage. Or have you? Have you found yourself thinking things like:
• "If I'm having trouble quitting, it wouldn't be so terrible to go back to smoking."
• "Hey, it's just not a good time for me. I can do this again ..."
• "I'm young. By the time I get old enough to get lung cancer, they'll have a cure."
• "I keep my weight down and I use seatbelts and I don't drink too much, so one 'vice' isn't going to do me in."

These are attempts to deny the problem rather than deal with it. We all do it. But you don't want to be talked into a mistake by this human tendency.