Breaking the habit

It invades every aspect of your life.

Your hair and clothes smell of it, your teeth and your tongue and your fingers have a yellowish tinge. There’s ash on your counter-top and in your car, and in restaurants you’re the pariah, forced to step outside to indulge your habit.

It also carries a mammoth health risk, and the Medical Research Council (MRC) says smoking kills more than 20000 South Africans each year. So why on earth do we still do ito Allen Carr, author of The Easy Way to Stop Smoking (Sterling), says it’s down to two reasons only: nicotine addiction and brainwashing. Smoking, says Carr, is not a habit — it’s an addiction.

The “pleasure” and “relief” derived from smoking quells the pangs and withdrawal symptoms from cigarettes smoked before (much like heroin addicts need to repeatedly plunge hypodermic needles into their arms to avoid crashing). Like heroin, the next cigarette simply perpetuates the cycle of addiction.

In addition to that, there’s the conditioning we’re subjected to. We are persuaded by the advertising and marketing of tobacco products that cigarettes can relax us, lend glamour to our lives and give us confidence and courage.

“AFTER ONE SESSION OF HYPNO-THERAPY, I COULDN’T TOUCH A CIGARETTE WITHOUT RECOILING”

At 31, Dorothy Black had quit and picked up the habit again more times than she could count. “I kept telling myself that it wasn’t that bad and consoled myself with the fact that other people smoked way more than I did.” But things changed after her annual gynae checkup. “I had developed cysts, which the doctor said were a consequence of too much alcohol, smoking, bad eating habits and stress,” she says. Dorothy had a choice between changing her lifestyle or risking the cysts developing into something worse. “I couldn’t say I enjoyed smoking anymore. But it was such a part of who I was and I didn’t know how to let that go.”

A colleague suggested hypnotherapy. “I’d heard about people going to hypnotists to help them stop and I was curious. The hypnotist, Chris, was a tall, imposing man with a shock of black hair — he nearly scared me to death when he whipped open the door!” He described how he’d put her into a medium trance and then make suggestions that would register directly in her subconscious mind.

“I wasn’t scared, but I guess I was a little nervous,” says Dorothy, who remained aware throughout the session. “The suggestions he made included how I’d feel if I tried to smoke a cigarette (he told me I’d want to vomit, but that I’d be unable to) and how I was no longer a slave to my addiction.”

It’s been eight months since that appointment and she hasn’t smoked since. “I honestly can’t even touch a cigarette without recoiling,” she says.
When going for hypnotherapy, it’s important for the hypnotist to be very specific in terms of instructions. In Dorothy’s case, cigarettes were singled out, but other forms of smoking — such as hand-rolled cigarettes — weren’t, so she doesn’t have the same recoiling reaction to these. She may still puff on these when she goes out, but plans to have another session with Chris to exclude these too.

Go to www.hypnotists.co.za for more information on this treatment method.

“GROUP SUPPORT HELPED ME KICK THE HABIT”

Not one for short cuts, 25-year-old Aleesha Booyens decided to tackle her smoking addiction slowly and steadily. “I wanted to do it properly and everything else I’d tried before had fallen short of the mark.”
Having read up on their success rate, Aleesha joined SmokEnders, although the decision wasn’t easy. “The fact is, I really enjoyed smoking, but one of the main reasons I wanted to quit was that I didn’t like being the only one smoking anymore. It actually became embarrassing being the only smoker in a room of 30 people at a party,” she says.

It took a few months for Aleesha to put her decision into action, but when she eventually joined a SmokEnders group in her neighbourhood, it turned out to be a lot easier than she’d expected. “It was fantastic to meet people with the same goal. It was very supportive,” she says.

The seven-week programme begins by mentally weaning members off their smoking patterns. “We were still allowed to smoke, but we had to do tricks like smoke with the other hand, and with our cigarette held in different fingers,” recalls Aleesha. “These techniques are said to help break the mental habits associated with smoking, such as smoking after a meal or every time you have a cup of coffee. I’m not going to lie. It was difficult to follow the rules 24/7 and I did cheat every now and then. But in general I stuck to the programme.”

To bolster determination and confidence, members team up in pairs in a buddy system. Aleesha found this support very helpful on days when she was tempted to give in. SmokEnders also makes participants aware of the processes that their bodies are likely to go through when they finally give up for good, and although she experienced a week or two of bingeing to alleviate her cravings, this soon passed. She took up jogging and made a point of feeding her senses.

“I love the fact that I can really taste and smell food now — and when I go jogging, I can finally enjoy the way my body responds. It’s fantastic to feel my lungs expand with fresh air without breaking out in a fit of coughing.”

Go to go to www.smokenders.com for more information on the programme.

“COLD TURKEY AND HEALTHY CHOICES WERE THE ONLY WAY FOR ME”

While working abroad, Melanie Dags decided to go cold turkey. “I started seeing the effects years of smoking had had on my body and I didn’t like it,” she says. Apart from the shortness of breath, Melanie started noticing the fine lines that developed around her lips — known as smoker’s pout. “It was very disturbing. I grew up in a time where cigarette advertisements portrayed smokers as young, beautiful, jet-setting types and here I was getting older and looking more like Aunt Selma from The Simpsons.”

It took a few months for Melanie to put her plan into action, but when she eventually ditched her smokes, she was ruthless. “I set a date for myself — something everyone said was completely the wrong thing to do — and I stuck to it.”

Without the aid of patches, chewing gum, books, therapy or support, Melanie embarked on her journey to health. “My situation was quite odd, in that I was staying with five smokers at the time, so there were cigarettes everywhere, all the time.” Instead of making it more difficult, it made it easier. Being around smokers while she quit meant that Melanie became more conscious of her own addiction. “When I became aware of the smell and how often someone lit up, I couldn’t believe how many I had smoked,” she says.

Being aware of her cravings and managing each episode through conscious thought and deep breathing helped her. “Every time I craved a cigarette I’d go somewhere quiet and question why I felt the need to smoke. I’d take a few very deep breaths and concentrate on the feeling of fresh air in my body.”

To strengthen her resolve, Melanie also followed a healthy eating plan to avoid bingeing. “I didn’t put on any weight at all. In fact, I lost quite a bit as I was eating well and exercising to keep my mind focused.”

Melanie believes her attitude played the biggest role in her quitting successfully. “I always had a box of cigarettes in my room. I was in complete control of whether I smoked or not and didn’t feel like I was being deprived. I simply chose not to smoke,” she says.

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