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Share your quitting journey

if you don't start thinking or saying things like "i really want a smoke"

JonesCarpeDiem
0 8 1

I've had a few panic attacks in my life. For those who don't know what they are , I'm going to describe them

They start when you feel something is unfixable/hopeless/Lost (you may start thinking about smoking and not being able to)

If you start focusing on that you multiply it and magnify it until you get an adrenalin release.

When that happens, you can't turn it off. you are now in fight or flight mode. you are hyperventilating and you can't sit still. You would do anything to make it stop but it won't stop until the adrenalin level goes back to normal. You have imagined a threat and you have made it real to the most extreme measure it could be taken.

Most people will give in and smoke before they ever get the uncontrolled adrenalin release but some will let it get that far.

this is why I'm always warning about not talking yourself into smoking. you will make yourself smoke and this is how it will happen.

so.......... these things we tell you to do to distract yourself? take them seriously and do them if you want to save yourself from starting over.

Happy New Year All You Ex-smokers.

8 Comments
About the Author
Hello, My name is Dale. I was quit 18 months before joining this site and had participated on another site during that time. I learned a lot there and brought it with me. I joined this site the first week of August 2008. I didn't pressure myself to quit. HOW I QUIT I didn't count, I didn't deny myself to get started. When I considered quitting (at a friends request to influence his brother to quit), I simply told myself to wait a little longer. No denial, nothing painful. After 4 weeks I was down to 5 cigarettes from a pack a day. The strength came from proving to myself, I didn't need to smoke because I normally would have smoked. Simple yes? I bought the patch. I forgot to put one on on the 4th day. I needed it the next day but the following week I forgot two days in a row I put one in my wallet with a promise to myself that I would slap it on and wait an hour rather than smoke. It rode in my wallet my first year.There's nothing keeping any of you from doing this. It doesn't cost a dime. This is about unlearning something you've done for a long time. The nicotine isn't the hard part. Disconnecting from the psychological pull, the memories and connected emotions is. :-) Time is the healer.