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| Lesson 9 - Relapse Prevention  |
The urge to smoke....oh, to have just one cigarette!At some point in cessation, most of us have thoughts that smoking just one cigarette, or just for tonight would be alright. We know better than to believe that is true, but time and distance from the last cigarette smoked can soften the edges on the reasons we quit in the first place. Learning to navigate around the unhealthy thoughts of smoking that are bound to come up now and again through the first smoke-free year is a necessary and critical step in the recovery process. Will I Miss Smoking Forever?Does the urge to smoke weeks or months into cessation mean we are doomed to fail? Will we spend the rest of our lives chained to this addiction, whether we're actively smoking or not? No. Urges to smoke are simply indicators of the healing process that is going on within us and should be regarded as progress.Today's lesson will help you begin to understand and reprogram your mind away from the junkie thinking that is a byproduct of quitting tobacco. I've also included stories from people who have been through a smoking relapse. Their perspectives give us plenty of valuable food for thought. Keep your memory green, your reasons for quitting close at hand, and remember: There is no such thing as "just one" cigarette. | | | Avoiding Relapse - Beat Junkie Thinking | 4 Steps to Defeat the Urge to Smoke
When we first quit, the urge to smoke a cigarette can be overwhelming. Take some time to learn how to decipher what your body is trying to signal, and making better choices is easy.
| 5 Steps That Lead to a Smoking Relapse
Let's take a look at 5 of the most common pitfalls for a smoking relapse.
| Rationalizations for Smoking
Look through this list of common rationalizations and see if you can identify with any of them. Prepare yourself for success by knowing what to expect and how to give those thoughts the big brush off!
| There is No Such Thing as Just One Cigarette
Thoughts of smoking just one cigarette have been the ruin of many good quitting efforts. It's important for you to realize ahead of time that these mental contortions are a normal part of the recovery process. A little preparation will keep you in the driver's seat when your mind starts to wander and smoking seems like a good option.
| Will I Miss Smoking Forever?
The associations that we build up over time between the activities in our lives and smoking are closely knit. Once you quit smoking, your job becomes one of unraveling those smoking threads, or associations, one by one. How does that happen? And how long does it take?
| Why Do People Relapse Years Later?
Every so often someone comes into the About.com Smoking Cessation Forum who lost their quit after years of not smoking. On the surface, it is scary for those who are working hard to beat this addiction. On the surface, it looks like smoking is a nasty monster that follows us, waiting to pounce when we're least suspecting... That's not how it works though. Relapse never happens out of the blue, even though people often think it does.
| | Relapse Stories | Anatomy of a Smoking Relapse -- Leslie's Story
Junkie Thinking is a common facet of recovery from nicotine addiction that can easily trip us up, leading back to full-time smoking if we're not careful. Leslie's account illustrates this, as well as how years can go by before we're ready to attempt smoking cessation again.
| My Relapse Story - From Loribelle
"So here's my crazy, honest and frequently embarrassing tale of cigarette addiction, recovery, and the power that comes from the journey. It's been a long and complicated process, but if you bear with me, I'm hoping you'll be able to see a bit of yourself in my struggle."
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