There are many countries where children aged six years old to fifteen years old start smoking every day while increasing a large number of patients dying from lung cancer and other diseases smoking causes. In Pakistan, about 1200 children under the said age start their smoking habits every day. Accumulated underage smokers are reaching up to 20million children. Even though the law prohibits the underage distribution of the product it’s still actively traded all over the country. Specifically in Lahore, the cheapest cigarette pack costs about 16 cents to 22 cents or 0.16USD to 0.22USD and they are easily available with good marketing and rewards on purchase of their brands.

The cheap cigarettes have created a lot of addicts and many are confronting this habit. As much is it problematic and addictive, it is fatal as well. If you are a pack a day smoker or worse it is best to kick this habit and visit a general physician for a check-up. Otherwise, if you’re too late you need to find the best oncologist in Lahore.

Ways to Quit Smoking

Smoking is a habitual and dependent thing. It involves a dedicated effort to stop the habit. The following are a few ways in which you can relieve yourself from this hectic habit.

Knowing how you are!

There are three types of smokers. Those who smoke packs a day, social smoking, or stressed smoking. In the first category, people need a lot of effort to quit smoking, a simple nicotine patch or gums would not help much. But it will give enough nicotine levels to fend off the urges. Other than you can try nicotine therapy. For a heavy smoker, a detailed plan is effective for quitting smoking.

Social smokers can easily stop by just letting it go. If that habit is persistent in an environment where it can become a habit like on a job or being with friends, you just need to avoid your peers till they are done smoking.

Stress smoking mostly comes with depression, anxiety, or loneliness. The best way to let it go is by finding someone you can talk to or doing chores that diverts your attention.

Know What Triggers you to Smoke!

When you’re trying to quit smoking the worse thing that comes up is the craving to have a cigarette. Keeping note of things that make you wanna smoke. 

• If you smoke with your morning tea or coffee.
• If you drive and smoke.
• When you’re on a break at work.
• Coming after a hectic day.
• Meeting peers.
• After eating.
• Having a bad day or going into somewhat depression.

These are the most common smoking habits and situations. It’s when you find your pack and light up one.

Outrun your Triggers

If you know the timing of your routine smokes or you’re keeping a ledger the best thing you could to avoid all these situations. Like if you’re smoking with morning tea, then take your morning tea someplace you cant smoke, try driving through a new route to quit autopilot mode, don’t join your peers at work till they are done smoking, tell your peers about your decision to quit smoking.

Fight the Physical habit

Smoking is half a part of the physical habit. If you’re not smoking then there is this unsatisfactory feeling that makes you wanna light one. Try holding on to different edibles or straws to quit the habit. To counter the oral craving you can try eating gums, vegetables, or chew on straws or coffee stirrers. You can use stress balls to counter the habit.

Quit date

Committing yourself is the best mind-game you can play with yourself. It can give you a sensation of victory as well as it will improve your self-esteem. You can do it by picking rewards for yourself, it will again give you a sensation of achieving something. Also, when you’re on to quitting you should let the loved ones know. They can help you with a lot of things.

Medication and Therapy

There are tons of methods to quit smoking. Other than nicotine gums, doctors have many different methods to fend off the habit entirely. Nicotine Replacement Therapy can help you get the levels of nicotine through patches, lozenge, inhalers, or nasal sprays. It can help maintain the nicotine levels and fight the withdrawal symptoms. Some non-nicotine drugs can help the withdrawal symptoms to get lowered and help to end the habit.

Other than just going to a doctor several therapies can help achieve quit smoking goals. This includes Hypnosis, Acupuncture, Behavioral Therapy, Motivational therapy can work too.

The Takeaway

Smoking is not just harmful, it’s fatal. About 160,000 people in Pakistan die of tobacco use in a single year. It’s addictive and it could be hard for a person who smokes to give up the habit. But its a physical habit and a bit mood altering thing. Both of these can be coped with proper managing of voluntary and involuntary habits.