12 habits and tricks to prevent smoking
Tobacco is one of the most consumed psychoactive substances worldwide. Along with alcohol, it is a legal substance that has traditionally been well regarded at the social level and can now be consumed freely on public roads.
But it also generates addiction and has important effects at the health level, including a decrease in life expectancy, a weakening of the cardiovascular system and an increased risk of respiratory diseases or even lung cancer.
That is why many smokers want to quit, and so there are large awareness and prevention campaigns. How to prevent smoking or, in the case of having been a smoker before, prevent relapse? Throughout this article we will mention 12 habits and tricks to prevent smoking.
- Related article: "The two faces of tobacco dependency (chemical and psychological)"
Habits and tricks useful in the prevention of tobacco dependence
The dependence on tobacco, or rather the nicotine it contains, is one of the most frequent problems linked to addiction and that often is not seen as something serious or excessively harmful. But with the passage of time and as the level of information available regarding its effects increases, there is increasing concern and demand for preventive measures with respect to tobacco consumption.
There are many preventive measures that we can use, both at an institutional level and at a personal level. Below we will see different measures that can be taken into account in the face of avoid getting hooked or re-hooked to the use of tobacco and nicotine , regardless of our age and condition.
1. Learn
The first and most basic of the habits we can recommend is to get informed. Although there are multiple prevention campaigns, the truth is that many of them are often ignored and rejected. However, seeking true and reliable information from oneself can help us to take the data more seriously and the need to prevent consumption may arise. It is important that this information be truthful and that comes from someone with a critical view of consumption.
2. Train the critical spirit
Many people start smoking mainly by imitation or by identifying the fact of doing it with maturity or being interesting, considering it a symbol of rebellion and virility. This vision of tobacco comes largely from the advertising carried out at the television level, at the cinema or as a legacy of the traditional vision promoted by the industry.
In this sense it can be useful to carry out a training with regard to the critical spirit, in which the person must form his own point of view and not just believe what he is told or what is shown to him. It's about looking information that allows us to verify our beliefs .
3. Do not promote contact with a consumer environment
We have already indicated that one of the reasons why people usually start consuming is often that of being part of a group, especially in the case of adolescents. In this sense it may be useful to have some control over our environment and the places where we spend our time.
Obviously we are not talking about relating to others based on whether they smoke or not, but rather about try to avoid elements of the environment that facilitate consumption : try not to frequent areas of smoking or do it in areas where tobacco can not be consumed (for example in activities such as going to the movies) for example.
4. Look for models or references
One of the causes of people starting tobacco is the existence of relevant or admired people who are smokers. One way to prevent smoking is to use the inverse case: be or look for a reference that does not consume and that is admired by the person in question.
5. Listen to examples of ex-smokers
They can also serve as such people who in the past smoked but have now left it with success and who talk openly about the problems that consumption has caused throughout their lives and what it has meant for them to achieve such recovery .
6. Assess the economic impact
One way to make us more reluctant to consume tobacco has to do not so much with health but with money: smoking is not free and in fact it is increasingly expensive, so falling into its consumption or reengaging it has an implication at the economic level that some may get to do to raise the consumption as something unwise.
7. Consider the advantages of non-consumption
The prevention of smoking can benefit from treating not only only the negative aspects and problems that can lead to their consumption, but also assess positively the situation and the advantages of not smoking or of having stopped doing it.
8. Set limits
Whether the person who is interested in smoking is you or if he is an acquaintance, it may be useful to put / set certain limits and expose them clearly. This implies taking into account in which places one could or could not smoke (for example, not at home), something that nowadays and according to the current legislation is only possible on public roads (and not in all) and at the same time that idea can lead to hinder the appearance of the desire to make consumption .
9. Value the effect it has on those around you
Smoking not only has repercussions on the one who does it but also affects their environment, making them passive smokers if consumption takes place close to them. This can be especially harmful for children, the elderly and people with a depressed immune system.
Many people, in fact, find in this point one of the reasons to change their consumption habits and try to stop it.
10. Train your assertiveness
Often many young people begin to smoke under social pressure from colleagues or friends or as an activity that is linked to socialization, although some do not have a real desire to smoke themselves. In this sense, it can be very useful to carry out a training in a style of assertive behavior and response: the person must learn to defend his position firmly but respecting the vision and feelings of the other . In this sense there are different techniques that can be learned, such as the scratched disk or the fog bank.
11. Learn relaxation techniques
Many people turn to tobacco because of the belief that nicotine allows the user to relax in situations of anxiety. This belief is partly the product of a misinterpretation (since, in fact, nicotine is an exciting and non-relaxing substance) derived from the tolerance that smokers end up acquiring to the substance and which in them does generate a sensation of tranquility when being endowing the body with a substance without which it is not used to function.
It can be useful to avoid smoking and above all to prevent possible relapses to work at the level of relaxation techniques. Techniques such as relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation therapy by Jacobson They can be of great help when it comes to combating moments of anxiety or resist the temptation to make consumption.
- Maybe you're interested: "Jacobson's Progressive Relaxation: use, phases and effects"
12. Physical activity is your ally
Probably one of the habits that help to avoid getting hooked on substances such as tobacco, one of the simplest protective factors to carry out and which benefits the most, is the regular practice of sports. Regular physical exercise brings a lot of benefits such as an improvement in mood, the release of endorphins and the reduction of anxiety states.
Bibliographic references:
- Berlin, I .; Singleton, E. G .; Pedarriosse, A. M .; Lancrenon, S .; Rames, A .; Aubin, H. J .; Niaura, R. (2003). "The Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale: factorial structure, gender effects and relationship with nicotine dependency and smoking cessation in French smokers". Addiction. 98 (11): 1575-1583.
- Urberg, K .; Shyu, S. J .; Liang, J. (1990). "Peer influence in adolescent cigarette smoking". Addictive Behaviors. 15 (3): 247-255.
