Make me want to quit!

A quit initiative being launched next week in Stanthorpe will offer smokers the opportunity to break the habit in a friendly environment with all the help they need.
According to a local addiction specialist, the smoker’s greatest enemy is too often not themselves but their well-meaning and frustrated friends and families.
David Entermann, a registered nurse working with DRUG ARM in Stanthorpe, is fascinated by human behaviour and enjoys journeying beside people who have goals to make changes in their lives.
No one likes watching someone they love slowly destroy themselves. So, out of concern, the natural tendency is to build a compelling case for quitting, or give up in exasperation!
The human species perversely craves self-determination, and then uses this autonomy to self-destruct! What we need to create is a caring empathetic climate that elicits change-talk – where people come up with their own reasons for kicking the habit, and are then motivated to set goals and do the hard but rewarding work that changes the direction of their lives.
Mr Entermann believes that the most exciting aspect to QUIT Now! – a seven session support group – is his fellow facilitators.
Together, David Hall and Reg Harris, both retired registered nurses, have been helping smokers break free from cigarette for more than 70 years.
“Nowhere else in Australia are you able to access a program with that sort of experience,” Mr Entermann said.
If you want to make a quit attempt in 2012, they have tailored these sessions just for you.
And if you’ve already had a crack at it in the past, you are even better positioned!
Participants will gain insights into the biological, social, psychological and spiritual dimensions of the smoking phenomenon, which will enable them to deal with their own unique pattern of cravings, anticipating risky situations and practising strategies that will make smoking history.
Thulimbah resident Andrew Davies is typical of those who join the group. He smoked for 26 years before attending a QUIT Now! program and praises the group approach.
“I wanted to give up but didn’t know how. I was looking for a way to quit. People give you useless advice like, just throw the pack away. It’s just not that easy. It’s like throwing a part of your body away! But now I don’t cough any more. I can breathe a lot better. And I love saying, I used to smoke – but I gave up!” Mr Davies said.
Free information sessions are to be held on Monday and Tuesday at 10.30am in the cinema at Art Works on Davadi.
Whilst bookings are not required to attend these information sessions, for more information call
(07) 4681 1381 or
(07) 4681 4241.
QUIT Now! is a collaboration between DRUG ARM a not-for-profit organisation and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, creators of the highly successful five-day Plan to Stop Smoking, which started in 1964.