This is a classic blog that has circulated for many years; we periodically dust if off and re-post it for newer members to see. Feel free to save your own version and answer some of these for yourself!
Once you recognize the "Junkie Thoughts" when they come up, you will take away their power. Because why would you take something a junkie says seriously?
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Junkie Thinking
JUNKIE THINKING: One puff won't hurt. RESPONSE: One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking compulsively again.
JUNKIE THINKING: I only want one. RESPONSE: I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day every day. I want them all.
JUNKIE THINKING: I'll just be a social smoker. RESPONSE: I don’t get to choose, unfortunately. I am a chronic, compulsive smoker, not a social smoker, and once I smoke one I'll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take it or leave it. That's not me. Never has been, never will be.
JUNKIE THINKING: I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now. RESPONSE: The only reason I'm doing so well is because I haven't taken the first puff. Once I do, I won't be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking again.
JUNKIE THINKING: I'll just stop again. RESPONSE: Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it took me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?
JUNKIE THINKING: If I slip, I'll keep trying. RESPONSE: If I think I can get away with one little "slip" now I'll think I can get away with another little "slip" later on. Smoke or don’t smoke, you can’t do both.
JUNKIE THINKING: I need one to get me through this withdrawal. RESPONSE: Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. I will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through it all over again.
JUNKIE THINKING: I miss smoking right now. RESPONSE: Of course I miss something I've been doing every day for most of my life. But do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I'd rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to quit.
JUNKIE THINKING: I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset. RESPONSE: Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still be upset, I'll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it's a want. Once the crisis is over, I'll be relieved and grateful that I didn’t relapse.
JUNKIE THINKING: I don't care! RESPONSE: What is it exactly that I think that I don't care about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about chest pain? I don't care about gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped smoking in the first place.
JUNKIE THINKING: What difference does it make, anyway? Smoking only hurts me. RESPONSE: Yes, it hurts you. It also hurts your family, kids, and friends. Even pets are affected by second hand smoke. Don’t you think your family will be affected when you get sick? When you die? Can you still say that smoking only hurts YOU?
