Wouldn’t everyone rush to buy a lotto ticket if the chances of winning would be one in three? Having the same odds, however, for dying of coronary heart disease should be quite sobering.
However, for the average smoker, this statistic is not enough to drag them away from their love/hate relationship with tobacco. For five decades now, health authorities have sought to warn the public regarding the risks associated with smoking. The saturation marketing of ‘Big Tobacco’ has now been countered by a multitude of campaigns aimed at changing smokers’ behaviour. And we are seeing good returns, with diseases like lung cancer now seeming set to be toppled from pole position.
But for many of today’s smokers it stops short of providing the necessary motivation to make a serious quit attempt. Telling yourself the truth about the odds is critical to the outcome of any wager. Smokers are masters at making the improbable into the impossible.
To change any habitual behaviour involves a process that can be painful. As a species we are ambivalent. We want it both ways! So it is critical to look at both sides of the coin; to weigh up the benefits of quitting against the benefits of smoking.
For a start, list the positive reasons for continuing to smoke. Yep on a sheet of paper to put up on the fridge! The sheer relief and euphoria of a timely smoke, the feeling of fitting in with your smoking friends, etc.
Then start on a second column with all downsides. The health risks, the negative role-modelling, feeling of being out of control, the stench, feeling embarrassed at having to smoke … and the thousands of dollars.
Lastly look at the flip-side. List the cons and then the pros of life as a new non-smoker: the temporary cravings, weight gain, irritability, having to learn new ways of coping with stress, the loss of image and sense of identity. And again compare these with a list of benefits that come with breathing clean free air!
May 31 was World No Tobacco Day so this week remember the words of Mark Twain, who said “Giving up smoking is easy. I’ve done it many times!”
Chances are … the next quit attempt will bring you one step closer to being free from cigarettes forever.
For support or information on joining a quit group, call DRUG ARM on (07) 4681 4214, or make an appointment to talk to your GP.
David Entermann,
Program Coordinator – Clinical – QLD, DRUG ARM Australasia
