Many people are hooked today on smoking. Over the years, puffing cigarettes has been equated to being cool. It has become a standard for acceptance most common to young people. Look around you and the majority of the people you see with a cigarette in their hands are the younger generation. This can be attributed to several factors: peer pressure, work-related stress, media, and curiosity are just some of the most common.
Despite the campaigns against smoking and the numerous warnings that concerned government and private institutions, smokers still seem to be oblivious to the harmful effects of smoking not only to themselves but to the people around them as well.
Effects of smoking to the body
A single stick of cigarette can cause so much harm to the body. There are so many things that can result from the smoking habit.
Discoloration of the teeth
Premature wrinkling of the skin. This happens when the body does not have enough Vitamin C to preserve the collagen in our skin. Smoking takes away this vitamin so it results to premature wrinkling. Crow's feet forms on the sides of the eyes and smokers develop pursed lips caused by constant puffing of cigarettes.
Discoloration of the fingers and skin. Smokers tend to develop nicotine-stained fingers and skin because of the lack of oxygen.
Blemished skin. Smoke from cigarette leaves residue on the surface of your skin, and these residues contain harmful substances which are also present in vehicle smoke.
Effect on blood circulation. Smoking constricts the veins where blood pass through and decrease blood circulation in the body.
Lung Cancer
Hypertension
Heart Diseases
Emphysema
These are just some of the many effects smoking has on the body. People may say that smoking gives them a stress-free feeling or it helps in better food digestion but the only thing they can get out of the habit is damage to one's health.
How to effectively quit smoking?
This method is ceasing to light a cigarette stick without any other assistance. The person will just have to stop by mere self-control. This is probably one of the hardest because you will really have to restrain yourself from puffing another stick.
- Behavioral medication and self-help literature
Smoking cessation is a process that would need emotional and mental conditioning. Since craving for cigarettes are mostly in one's mind, smokers who aims to quit must teach themselves to stop wanting to smoke. Some utilize counselors to help them stop or avoid triggers that can lead them to lighting that cigarette stick.
This method can also be used to condition the mental state of the smoker. This can greatly help in making them not think of smoking and the need to have one.
- Find other useful things to do
Smokers can try and find other ways to substitute the smoking habit. For example, smokers feel the urge to puff a stick after every meal. They can instead condition themselves to read a book or chew gum after every meal so that they will have something else to do aside from smoking.
- Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
One major difficulty people encounter when they decide to quit the habit is that they seem to can't get themselves stop lighting that cigarette. They crave for more and the more they deprive themselves, the more they long for it. The main culprit for this is nicotine, it is the addictive substance in cigarettes. It is not harmful like the other chemicals found in cigarettes but it makes one crave for more. So to quit smoking means to stop the addiction and that is to either cease taking nicotine or find other ways to have that nicotine fix.
NRT gives the body the nicotine it craves but without the harmful effects the a cigarette stick brings. This comes in several forms like gum and lozenges that are mostly sold over-the-counter. While the smoker is using this method, they can gradually decrease the amount they're taking in until they completely stop. This is a more healthy way to give the body the nicotine it needs.
- Seek help from family and friends
This is perhaps the single most cost-efficient method. We all have a support system that can help us through anything. Ask your friends and family members to assist you in your journey to being smoke-free. You can turn to them whenever you feel the urge to smoke and they can talk you out of it by telling you the harm it will cause you or the oath that you took when you decided to stop. They can also keep you busy with activities that can take your mind off smoking.
Smoking is a gradual way to hurt your body. We are all aware of the effects it has to us and to our loved ones, we just need to find that one effective way to make us stop. It all takes determination, self-control, the will to stop, and support from people that matters to us.
