Coping with stress when you have the urge to smoke
Community
Community
Welcome to our community!
I learned when I did some reading that smoking/vaping actually CAUSES stress! We get a momentary hit of dopamine which fools us into thinking it helps, but shortly thereafter the sensors in the brain start to demand their next fix - increasing the stress level until we smoke and the process starts all over again. Read on to better understand it all!
The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware. I credit it in large part with my success at quitting. You can search for it online or at your local library.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
The idea when you quit is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instead-of-smoke
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
Welcome to the Ex. We all have stressors in our lives. It's actually become more prevalent in this society because it's a modern day reaction to our fight or flight response that was once a survival mechanism. Deep breathing can help and I also watch meditations on YouTube at night. Exercise is also a great way to relieve stress--going for a walk can be great stress reliever. So prepare for your quit and educate yourself about nicotine addiction. You can do and we're here to support you.
Barb
I Hi and Welcome to Ex’s m.collins333
You can do this...hang in there and remember you will have stress if you smoke or not...so why smoke. We all have stress and have to find ways to deal with it other than smoke...ie., delay the urge, pray, read the Bible, take a walk, meditate, exercise, help others in this journey, etc., If you go to the upper right hand corner and click on the magnifier and type in “stress and quitting”...read how other’s handled the situation...Hang in there....we are here for you...Gotcha in my thoughts ~ Colleen 377 DOF