Anxiety when quitting smoking: how to overcome it in 6 steps
Leaving an addiction behind is always a challenge , since it forces us to introduce changes in our management of attention and impulses, as well as in our habits. In the case of tobacco, one of the most popular addictive substances, this is complicated not only by the biological part of the dependence, but also by the contextual one: we have become accustomed to having a cigarette in our hands, and we are surrounded by a society that It reminds us constantly that many people smoke.
In this article We will see several tips on how to overcome anxiety when quitting , and in what way we can adapt to the new, healthier lifestyle. Of course, in any case, it must be clear that nothing will save us from having to invest time and effort in it.
- Related article: "The 7 types of anxiety (causes and symptoms)"
How to manage anxiety when quitting smoking
Here are some tips that will help you keep anxiety at bay when you are trying to quit. But you should know that if you do not do your part to put these initiatives into practice, the simple fact of what you are here will not do you any good. So everything must start from a commitment to do everything possible to maintain your physical and mental health in the best possible state.
1. Learn to see the discomfort as part of a challenge
There are people who, to the problem of experiencing anxiety about quitting, they add the problem of entering into a pessimistic mentality .
For example, it is what happens in those who see something totally imposed from outside in that suffering, and that consequently believes that nothing can be done to limit its effects, that perhaps it will always be there. Or who sees in anxiety the first signs of an inevitable relapse, which is practically written in its destiny.
But there is another, much more constructive way of looking at this: discomfort is a constituent part of a challenge that we are going to overcome to addiction. It's what makes it a challenge in the first place. Y It is also the indicator of our progress As we move forward, we will see in the reduction of that anxiety the consequence of a job well done. Leaving behind the monkey is a very real possibility.
- You may be interested: "The two faces of tobacco dependence (chemical and psychological)"
2. Practice sports
Sport is an excellent way to help our attention focus "disengage" from certain obsessions and their physiological impact on us: anxiety.
By engaging in an absorbing and complex task, but subject to a series of stable norms, our attention is focused on the immediate objectives of what is happening here and now in the context of the objectives of the game in question. Things that belong to another area lose importance in a matter of minutes , they go to the background.
Of course, we should not play sports every time we notice that the anxiety to stop smoking is at the doors of our conscience, about to put our wellbeing in check again, since this would be exhausting. But it is good to opt for this from time to time, to get used to not thinking about tobacco for most of the day .
3. Avoid the reminders of the tobacco world
Much of the challenge of combating the anxiety to stop smoking has to do with the way we expose ourselves to the "danger zones" in which everything reminds us of the action of smoking.
Opt for the smartest strategy It is part of what we must do to ensure our health. So, as far as possible, we should avoid reminder stimuli linked to smoking. Stop going to places characterized by their high concentration of smokers, change of scene, etc.
4. Stroll through nature
The fact of exposing oneself habitually to places with clean air is a way to erase tobacco from the mind. First of all, in that context it is very easy to relax, and secondly, the experience of breathing well It helps us to make smoking less necessary.
5. Practice relaxation techniques
It is a good idea to learn relaxation techniques and apply them at times when we feel anxiety close. For it, we must try to have localized areas where it is viable to retire a moment and carry them out for a few minutes.
6. Lead a healthier life in general
If you leave the snuff you embark on a more global lifestyle change, it will be easier to leave behind the anxiety to quit smoking. Why? Why your self-esteem will improve , and in your way of generating self-concept (the idea that you have of you) will consist of a turning point in which you "change your life".
In this way, as you feel more capable of breaking with the old vices of the past, the feeling of being constructing something new with your identity will prevail, and that illusion and sense of self-efficacy will be above anxiety (which, in any case, in the first stages will not disappear altogether).
