Essay Sample on Quitting Smoking: Admitting the Addiction and Crafting a Plan

Introduction

The process of quitting smoking is not an easy task; it requires a well-structured plan that should be followed step by step for successful and complete quitting (Meijer et al., 2015). There will be behavioral and scope alterations, together with the management of moods. Following the right plan will result in a successful break free from smoking (Chaiton et al., 2016). The steps of quitting smoking start with the act admitting the addiction to smoking, which will motivate an individual to move to the next step. The next step is taking control of oneself and becoming a non-smoker. The rest involve maintaining the decision to quit and speak to other people who might empower in the process of quitting like considering to join great meetings of other quitters.

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Maintaining the Decision to Quit

The first way is preparation for quit day. Once an individual has decided to quit smoking, a quit day should be planned. The day chosen should not be too far in the future to prevent a change of mind, but make sure the day gives you enough time to prepare for the whole process of quitting (Bhattacharya et al., 2017). In this first step, a decision has to be made regarding whether the quitting will be made abruptly or smoke until the planned quit day, or quit gradually through reduction of cigarette intake until quit day. The most recommended quitting strategy here is to inform family, co-workers, and friends about the planned quit day, then set up a support system from someone near who successfully quitted smoking earlier and stay away from smokers.

Seeking External Support

The second way is the use of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRTS). It is hard to quit smoking without the assistance of NRT. It is the most popular way of giving up the smoking habit. It should be implemented after the quitting day as it reduces withdrawals and cravings symptoms that a person who was an addicting experience which may hinder the quitting plan. It weans a body of a smoker off cigarettes and supply a controlled dose and sparing the addict from exposure to any other tobacco chemicals.

Considering Non-Nicotine Medications

The third way is the consideration of non-nicotine medications. Two approved medications are non-nicotine, and it assists smokers to quit the habit. The drugs are varenicline and Bupropion (Bhattacharya et al., 2017). The person planning to quit smoking should take with a healthcare provider if there is a need to try the medication. Varenicline interferes with receptors of nicotine in the brain, and Bupropion acts on chemicals that reduce symptoms and cravings of nicotine withdrawal.

References

Bhattacharya, A., Vilardaga, R., Kientz, J. A., & Munson, S. A. (2017, May). Lessons from practice: designing tools to facilitate individualized support for quitting smoking. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 3057-3070). https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025725

Chaiton, M., Diemert, L., Cohen, J. E., Bondy, S. J., Selby, P., Philipneri, A., & Schwartz, R. (2016). Estimating the number of quit attempts, it takes to quit smoking successfully in a longitudinal cohort of smokers. BMJ Open, 6(6), e011045. Retrieved from https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/6/e011045?int_source=trendmd&int_medium=cpc&int_campaign=usage-042019

Meijer, E., Gebhardt, W. A., Dijkstra, A., Willemsen, M. C., & Van Laar, C. (2015). Quitting smoking: The importance of non-smoker identity in predicting smoking behavior and responses to a smoking ban. Psychology & Health, 30(12), 1387-1409.https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2015.1049603