Giving up smoking is one of the hardest things for many people to attempt to do in their lives. It might seem like such a big deal, but try to imagine going without something that you literally crave every couple of hours or so – then imagine trying to do that for several weeks in order to break the addiction altogether. This might give an insight into why so many people find it very difficult to cope with the struggles of giving up and lapse into their old ways of smoking. And yet there are so many benefits that come with giving up smoking that it’s not hard to see why such a large number of smokers feel like giving up is a good idea.
After all, smoking is not only a bad thing for your health, it is also harmful for those around you – for many smokers this is the most poignant aspect of attempting to give up because you’re not just doing it for your benefit, you’re doing it for your loved ones too. Remember also that smoking is linked to virtually every health concern imaginable from lung cancer to heart disease, some of the biggest killers of people in the UK. There can be no doubt that smoking makes you more likely to develop these illnesses which can give you serious problems.
So with such good reasons to give up, why haven’t we all thrown down the cigarettes and declared “no more!” Well, the trouble is that as it was explained at the beginning, smoking is a vice that draws you in and makes you want it more. Help is at hand with a number of methods, and speaking to your doctor is your best bet for ideas of how to give up smoking altogether. But if you’re looking for alternative ways to give up the cancer sticks, there are some different ways you can attempt to give up.
Many people are turning to alternative therapies as a way to help them get off the cigarettes for good. There is a huge range of different ways that are all championed as the perfect way to rid yourself of the addiction. For some people the way forward is acupuncture treatment. Others find that hypnosis or meditation can be a great way to help them focus on getting through the difficult stages and ridding themselves of the constant need to light up.
Of course let’s remember that it’s always best to go for the standard methods such as therapy, nicotine gum, using the patch or electronic cigarettes. But if you combine these with alternative treatments it can really give you the help that you’re looking for. But why are these treatments effective? Well, for a lot of people it’s about the psychological boost that they receive when they do it. Hypnosis, for example, works on the same basis that when you hear someone in authority say something, it makes you feel reassured. The hypnosis helps you to calm down and focus on quitting.
It’s the same story for meditation, which is all about concentrating the mind and blocking out the desires of the body, which includes the want to light up a cigarette and start smoking. With acupuncture, this is a traditional Chinese medical practice that uses needles to supposedly be able to clear up certain conditions. These types of treatments may be able to help you but remember that you cannot rely on them entirely and that you should always look to include normal medical treatments when you are trying to give up smoking.