Helping People Change: Self Help Tips for Tobacco Addiction

These tips may be taught to tobacco users to help them change.

i). Review your tobacco use.

Talk to your family and friends about your tobacco use.

THINK….“Whom do they dislike…? Me or my addiction?”

ii). Accept that it is a problem.

“Do you know that you are damaging your body?”

iii). Don’t be overconfident about quitting.

DON’T THINK, “Though tobacco is a problem, I can leave it any time”.

iv). Decide to quit.

THINK… “What can I do?”

v). Accept the need for external help (Friends/Family/ Colleagues).

THINK… “Who can help me in quitting tobacco?”

vi). Don’t postpone. Set a target date to quit.

DECIDE… “I will leave it on ___ day”.

First Few Steps of Quitting

To reduce quantity: -

i) Change to non-preferred brand.

ii). Buy less cigarette / sachet at a time rather than piling the stock.

iii). Keep a record of the amount and frequency of tobacco used.

iv). Decrease the number of puffs when smoking.

v). Leave large stubs.

vi). Don’t inhale deeply.

To Deal with Triggers

i). If you have an extraordinary urge to take tobacco- Try alternatives (chewing gum, toffee, peppermint).

ii). Increase your water intake.

iii). Take small sips of water when the urge to smoke/chew is high.

iv). Deep breathing can calm you and help you to cope with the urge to use tobacco.

v). Do something else when you feel the urge to smoke/ chew tobacco. This will help you keep your mind off tobacco.

vi). Delay the act, count till 100 and think of pleasant situations and thoughts.

vii). Substitute stimulus associated with tobacco i.e. tea can be replaced by milk or juice.

viii). Remove ashtrays or lighters from your house or workplace.

Once You Quit

i). Learn to say no to tobacco offers from others.

ii). Don’t take even one puff.

iii). Try to remain in smoke free areas; Avoid company of smokers and chewers.

iv). Make a group of people who have quit tobacco.

v). Try alternative ways to deal with stresses Like — Relaxation, deep breathing, listening to music, exercises, taking a walk, talking to someone over telephone etc.

vi). Remember there can be some withdrawal symptoms when you quit Like — Headache, irritability, lack of concentration etc.— But these are temporary and will disappear in a few days.

vii). Even if you fail in your attempt:

• Don’t get disheartened - TRY AGAIN

• Seek help of those who have quit tobacco.

• Seek professional help and medical advice.

Why Should You Quit

Nearly 40% of people detected with are due to tobacco use. Cigarette smoking is associated with several deaths every year. Tobacco usage causes many oral cancers, cardio-vascular disease cases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease every year.

Brief Intervention

Most of the effective treatments, which seek to bring about change in addictive disorders, contain a common core of ingredients that evoke change. It is believed that six critical elements are necessary and sufficient to induce change. Miller and Sanchez (1994) described six elements, which they believed to be active ingredients of the relatively brief interventions that have been shown by research to be effective.

Research shows that most effective treatments contain a common core of ingredients, which promote change; They can be summarized by the acronym FRAMES:

• FEEDBACK of personal risk or impairment

• Emphasis on personal RESPONSIBILITY for change

• Clear ADVICE to change

• A MENU of alternative change options

• Therapist EMPATHY

• Facilitation of client SELF-EFFICACY or optimism

The responsibility and capability for change lie with the client. The therapist’s task is only to create a set of conditions that will enhance the client’s own motivation for and commitment to change. Offering support to the intrinsic motivation for change will lead the client to initiate, persist in, and comply with behavior change efforts. The objective is to help clients consider seriously two basic issues:

a). How much of a problem their drug use poses for them, and how it is affecting them (both positively and negatively). Tipping the balance of these pros and cons of drug use toward change is essential for movement from contemplation to determination.

b). The client in contemplation assesses the possibility and the costs/benefits of changing the drug use. Clients consider whether they will be able to make a change, and how that change will impact their lives. In the determination stage, clients develop a firm resolve to take action. That resolve is influenced by past experiences with change attempts. Individuals who have made unsuccessful attempts to change their drug use in the past need encouragement to decide to go through the cycle again.

Understanding the cycle of change can help the therapist to empathize with the client, and can give direction to intervention strategies. Though individuals move through the cycle of change in their own ways, it is the same cycle. The speed and efficiency of movement through the cycle, however, will vary. The task is to assist the individual in moving from one stage to the next as swiftly and effectively as possible. There is reason to believe that this strategy is particularly effective with less motivated clients.