Smoking rates are plummeting across the country -- so why are you having such a hard time quitting?
As we recently reported, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just gave us some great news: over the past decade, smoking prevalence among adults has dived from 20.9 percent to 16.8 percent. So if everyone else is doing it, why are you having such a hard time quitting? Maybe you need to change up tactics.
The CDC’s new report is part of an effort to drive down smoking prevalence among adults to 12 percent or less by 2020, and things are progressing quite nicely thanks to a combination of media campaigns, new laws, and smoking cessation products. But there is still a stubborn sector of Americans who cant kick the habit, and you may very well be one of them.
You’ve tried everything: going cold turkey, taking the nicotine gums, throwing out your last pack — but you still find yourself reaching for that cigarette at some point. So what’s the solution? Maybe you just haven’t found the tactic that’s right for you.
Many people quit in entirely different ways, and sometimes it has to do with your personality. For some people, cold turkey works best. For others, gradually weaning oneself off of cigarettes is the trick. But for you, it might be time to get creative, and keep trying new tricks until you find something that works.
Maybe for you it’s peer pressure that’ll work. Perhaps you can hire someone to keep you accountable, or talk a buddy into it, or enter into a no-smoking challenge with the rest of your workplace — it might sound a little desperate, but you’re desperate to quit this habit, right? You’d be surprised at just how effective peer pressure can be, and it works for a lot of people
But for other people, it might be as simple as a piece of candy and a mantra. When you get that craving, you might pop a piece of candy to suck on while repeating “NOPE, not one puff ever,” as one woman did in this WebMD report. It may seem a little weird, but at least no one has to hear you. And it can bring your desire to quit smoking to the forefront of your mind and potentially overwhelm your desire for a cigarette.
And if all that doesn’t work, run away from cigarettes. Literally. Another individual in the WebMD report said when he felt the craving, he started running until the craving went away. You can imagine the double benefits that come from that.
No matter what you try, remember that everyone is different, and what might work for someone might work for you. So keep at it — you’ll eventually figure it out.
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