Smokers are often pressurised by their peers and relatives to kick the butt, but the fact remains that giving up smoking is not an easy task.
Smokers are often pressurised by their peers and relatives to kick the butt, but the fact remains that giving up smoking is not an easy task. Nicotine is five to 10 times more addictive than cocaine and morphine and those who try to quit smoking experiences withdrawal symptoms, which is hard to combat.
However with determination and the right approach, this difficult task can be achieved.
A range of products or devices to aid smoking cessation include Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) such as nicotine patches, gums etc. There are other methods too including aversion therapy, hypnosis and acupuncture that many people use as a mode to quit smoking.
However, quitting smoking is easier said than done. Sunday DNA spoke to two people who after being aggressive smokers for years are now happy non-smokers. Suresh Shottam, a 59-year old smoking cessation therapist, was a heavy smoker for more than 20 years.
A combination of the ill-effects of smoking and work-related stress led to severe deterioration in his health. When he decided to quit smoking, he tried out practically all possible ways — aversion therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture, nicotine gum, nicotine patches, medication and counselling. None of the methods seemed to work for him.
“Finally I came to know about Allen Carr’s Easyway method and decided to give it a try. I was in New York then. And one session of talks did the magic for me. This was 12 years ago and since then I have never found the urge to smoke ever,” said Suresh. He was so inspired by the Easyway method of quitting smoking, that he underwent a training to become a therapist for the same method. Back home, he has started Easyway India, for people who want to quit smoking.
For some people, will power plays a strong role in quitting cigarettes. Meet 27-years-old Madhu TS, a software engineer from the city. He could quit his six year long smoking habit and now it’s been seven months that he is a happy non-smoker.
“I started smoking in 2002 when I was an engineering student. I used to hang around with friends who were into smoking as well, at that time. But it wasn’t peer pressure that motivated me to take up smoking. One of my cousins offered me a cigarette one day and I just tried it out for fun,” said Madhu.
One puff led to another and before he knew Madhu was addicted. “Last October, when the government banned smoking in public or private places, I decided on quitting,” he said. He attended two counselling sessions at Nimhans, after which he was able to give up cigarettes.
Sunday, May 31, is World No Tobacco Day.
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