Can You "Psych" Yourself Into Quitting Smoking? 

BY CRAIG SEGAL 

It is all well and good to consider methods for quitting, but hard-core smokers¹(铁杆烟民) aren’t going to go near them unless they can first psych themselves into quitting. Even if you’re not considering quitting right away, you can take positive steps to prepare yourself for that terrifying prospect². One great starter, says psychologist Rob Nolan, is to make a list of the three things you love about smoking alongside a list of three things you hate about it. What pluses does smoking give you? Does it relax you? Do you feel jittery³ if you don’t smoke? What does smoking take away? Does it interrupt your work? Can you not sit through a whole movie? Does it add to your fatigue⁴? Has it impacted your health? We all know smoking is harmful. Did you know cigarettes contain 4,000 chemicals and 50 cancer-causing substances? Did you know those chemicals and poisonous gases include arsenic⁵, acetone (used in paint stripper(脱漆剂) and nail polish remover(指甲膏清洗剂)), ammonia, carbon monoxide, cyanide, mercury, nicotine⁶, and lead? You get the point. 

Making a list of pluses and minuses “enables you to realize there may be other ways to attain⁷ the positive feelings associated with smoking,” says Nolan. “Many people smoke because they are under a lot of stress, to take a break from a difficult relationship or a bad work situation. For all these reasons, there are many other strategies people can use to improve their situations.” 

The next step is to look at the big picture([口](电影放映节目单上的)正片), to see that there are things that can potentially replace smoking. This is called behaviour modification⁸. Nolan encourages smokers to become experimental. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to go bungee-jumping or test Canada’s new marijuana legislation in your front yard(这并不是说让你去蹦极或在院子里种大麻). It just means making slight changes in your day-to-day life. Shake things up. If you smoke with your coffee and newspaper first thing in the morning, try starting your day off with a shower or (gasp!) a jog. Follow that with breakfast. Don’t have your first cigarette until you leave for work. If you smoke in the morning because you’re stressed, start waking up 15 minutes earlier. If you like a few cigarettes with your pals(好朋友) at the pub, try meeting them at a nonsmoking venue⁹. Don’t smoke: on the phone, in your home, in your car or after dinner.

In other words, break your habits. Smoking addiction¹⁰ is as psychological as it is physical. Once you teach yourself you can alter your lifestyle, you will begin to learn you can control your smoking as well. 

Many people try quitting cold turkey with zero preparation(很多人想在完全没有准备的情况下彻底戒烟). One tip, says Nolan, is to not quit. “Before committing to a quit attempt, experiment with being smoke-free for periods of time. But look at it as an experiment that you can’t fail.” 

The next step is to learn to cope with those hellish nonsmoking periods. There are many things you can do instead of smoking: drink a glass of water or juice, leave the table immediately after finishing your meal, eat a light, healthy snack, wash your face, chew gum. And don’t forget to reward yourself. Every time you change your smoking habits or endure a smoke-free period, buy yourself something, take your partner out for dinner, or browse¹¹ for a new book.

There is no harm in talking to a health-care professional or joining a support group. In fact, both steps can triple your chances of quitting. If the idea of therapy seems strange, keep in mind that nicotine hits the brain within six seconds–twice as fast as mainlined heroin(静脉注射的海洛因). Adding medication and/or nicotine gum to therapy can increase your chances five- to sixfold.

Here are a few more behaviour modification tips: 
- Keep track of all your cigarettes in a notebook. Use a symbol to indicate whether you really enjoyed your cigarette, whether you didn’t really need it and didn’t enjoy it, and finally, whether it made you feel worse. This way you can cut out certain cigarettes from your day.
- Wrap your pack with an elastic¹² band.
- Switch to a brand you never liked.
- Throw away your favourite lighter¹³ and your favourite ashtray¹⁴.
- Only buy one pack, or better yet, half a pack at a time.
- Inhale¹⁵ less. Smoke less of the cigarette.

Above all, stresses Nolan, take it easy on yourself. Quitting smoking may take a while. “Relapse is not a failure; it’s a setback¹⁶, so don’t be put off.”