We all know the many health and quality of life benefits of quitting smoking. However, smoking cessation is often easier said than done. Many people face challenges when quitting cigarettes due to various factors.
This is true even for smokers already suffering from the health effects of cigarette use, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). According to an Internal and Emergency Medicine study, 30% to 50% of symptomatic patients with COPD continue to smoke despite acknowledging the benefits of quitting. Similarly, of those who make a serious attempt to quit, 65% to 85% are still smoking a year into the cessation journey.
Despite the availability of various smoking cessation methods such as counseling, pharmacotherapy, and alternative and substitute products, many smokers still face physical and mental challenges to remain abstinent. Below, we’ll look at how you can overcome both the physical and mental difficulties that plague the smoking cessation journey:
Overcoming physical challenges
Even though quitting smoking is ultimately good for your health, there are many common symptoms and side effects that smokers report when quitting. This includes increased appetite, weight gain, and less common effects such as cold symptoms, constipation, dizziness or light-headedness, and mouth ulcers.
To help handle these withdrawal symptoms and effects, many smokers rely on substitute nicotine products that are often smoke- and tobacco-free. Nicotine pouches have been making headlines recently as a popular go-to, thanks to the discreet approach to harm reduction. ZYN Spearmint from Swedish Match is a popular nicotine pouch available in physical stores as well as online retailers. The pouches are gluten-free and lactose-free and have less than 1% of the daily recommended carbohydrates per pouch. They give users a subtle but pleasant nicotine experience that may be familiar to menthol smokers without the harm of traditional cigarettes.
Of course, aside from novel nicotine products, smokers can also benefit from other oral alternatives such as nicotine gum and lozenges. Swisher’s Rogue has recently launched nicotine pouches, gum, lozenges, and tablets as potential harm-reduction alternatives. These oral products help alleviate withdrawal symptoms and cravings without exposing users to harmful cigarette ingredients like tobacco smoke and tar.
Aside from tobacco substitutes, smokers can also benefit from keeping themselves physically active. Exercising can help keep cravings at bay, and studies have found that withdrawal symptoms decrease during and up to 50 minutes after physical activity. It can also help to adjust your diet by staying away from food and beverages that you usually associate with smoking, such as coffee and alcohol.
Overcoming mental challenges
Aside from physical challenges, smokers are also faced with mental hurdles in the smoking cessation journey. In our post on Releasing Human Potential, we discussed how humans tend to stay in our comfort zones, holding back our potential. In the case of smokers, the comfort zone is, of course, the habit of cigarette use as a means to cope with psychological triggers such as stress and anxiety.
Additionally, we’re naturally programmed to fear change, which can be debilitating when trying to break bad habits — like cigarette smoking. Fortunately, there are many mental and mindfulness practices we can do to help overcome these challenges. These are important for handling the psychological aspects of quitting, like finding motivation to stick to the quit and staying accountable throughout the cessation journey.
Insights from the NCCIH Clinical Digest found that mindfulness-based smoking cessation programs are just as effective, if not better in some cases, compared to traditional cessation methods. Even low-impact practices like yoga have been found to increase the odds of successful smoking abstinence, although the research specifies that this is particularly among light smokers.
While further studies are necessary to back the science of overcoming mental challenges to quitting smoking, the message remains the same. Focusing on releasing your potential and working on your internal battles and hurdles can help guide you towards healthier means of healing and thriving and away from toxic solutions like cigarettes.
