I joined this site today to see if I can get any additional help and inspiration. I tried to quit last July and made it 28 days before it started to not work out and have been back smoking since. I was using the patches which were very itchy and disturbed my sleep. I have a very stressful job and my coping skills at work we’re not the best. My initial slip was while at work.
My parents decided to quit when I did. We initially discussed quitting together. Everyone smoked when I was growing up and I naturally acquired the habit. When I eventually pursued my education, cigarettes went hand in hand with my studies, so I think I began to associate them with working and concentration.
My parents, despite being very heavy smokers, were able to successfully quit on the first try. My mother acts very condescending towards me about this. She almost acts as if she never touched a cigarette in her life. This is very annoying to me, because although I know that I started smoking despite her telling me not to, she fails to acknowledge her role in normalizing the habit. Thus, I don’t really have my parents as support for when I quit.
I am also in the process of getting a divorce. My husband moved out. I think he played a role in why my last quit failed because he used to stress me out. He would even say things like “I don’t think you can really do it.” I was refusing to acknowledge at the time that my marriage was failing. With him gone, I was very upset in the beginning but I have to acknowledge I am starting to feel better.
I don’t really know right now what my exact quit date will be but I am starting to think about it more and more. I don’t want to be a smoker for life, and I feel like I only do it because I feel like I have to. I need the money I am spending on cigarettes as well.
Have any of you managed to quit during a stressful time, like a divorce?
What skills do you recommend for a high stress job when quitting since this is what set me back the last time? (P.s. there is nowhere to take a walk where I work, I go into my car to smoke, and the reason I took these breaks during my lunch time was to have a moment to myself... there are no parks nearby, no malls, only shopping centers with relatively dangerous parking lots). I am also sometimes required to use my vehicle during the work day.
thanks for any advice you can give 
