Kicking my cigarette addiction
Ryan Leng
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Opinion
After four years of pack-a-day smoking, I quit five weeks ago. Out of torpid habit, I still study in the snack bar from time to time. There, I see people taking up smoking for the first time. It's sad, not just because of the health risks these new smokers will endure - which are manifold - but because they will face much undeserved scorn from non-smokers. So I'm here to whisper a few things about how I quit.
Before I came back to school this semester, I went to the doctor for a physical. After listening to me breathing with his stethoscope, he informed me that my lungs were much older and more broken down than they should have been. He told me that I had better stop smoking.
Now, whenever someone told me, "You should quit," I assumed the person didn't know doodley-squat about nicotine addiction. But when your doctor tells you something, you listen.
My doctor suggested that clinical depression might also keep me smoking. He told me depression is over-represented among smokers, something else for me to consider. My reaction was a jerk-kneed, "Nah, I don't think so." Unfortunately, depression carries a social stigma, and nobody likes to admit that they suffer from it.
After a few minutes of denial, I confessed maybe depression was part of my problem. He also mentioned stress - a somewhat of a sexier ailment than depression - kept me smoking. Of course, this school is difficult academically, and most smokers here would admit the stress of papers, tests and the like keeps them smoking. But get a load of this: Stress is a banal fact of life, not just of Hillsdale College.
My doctor prescribed me the antidepressant Wellbutrin for three months while I get off the cigarettes. I also bought nicotine patches, and, so far, both the drug and the patch have helped. Unfortunately, insurance companies do not cover any of the costs of quitting. This can prove daunting, as a box of seven patches costs between 18 and 25 bucks. As for the Wellbutrin, my doctor prescribed it as an anti-depressant, not an aid to quit smoking. Apparently, insurance companies will cover the costs of treating depression but not the costs of quitting smoking.
Now, pills and patches help, but they don't take away all the pains of withdrawal, and they don't completely eliminate a desire to smoke. A desire to quit and a plan are equally important.
If you're not sure you want to quit yet, here are some benefits of quitting you might not have considered: Food will taste better because your sense of smell and taste will come roaring back after a week or two. You will recover from colds a lot faster, and that smokers cough will be gone in as little as a week. You will be able to run for more than a city block and not collapse. Sex will also become zestier. And the list of benefits goes on.
Even with these advantages, for a hardened smoker, it is hard to give up certain cigarettes. What worked for me was examining the "essential cigarettes of my daily life."
For instance, I noticed trying to drink alcohol and not smoke was as hard as trying to poop and not pee. So I had to stop drinking for a while. But don't worry. I can drink now without a craving.
I also found that I always smoked after I woke from sleep and after I finished a meal. For those cravings, I chew Orbit sweet mint gum and sometimes go for a quick jog. That may not sound appealing now, but the more you do it, the more it will call you.
Having people who genuinely care about your health - and not just about the pollution of their own air - helps more than you'd think. This might sound schmaltzy, but encouragement and accountability from your friends and family is always meaningful.
Smoking is one of the most avoidable causes of death in America today. Of course, that doesn't stop people from lighting up. More than anything, smoking is a problem because people refuse to admit their own weakness.
Everybody knows the weekend-party smokers - the National Guard of smokers, if you will - and how they claim they don't have an addictive personality. Take it from a hardcore Marine smoker (to push the metaphor to its breaking point): Smoking addiction needs no genetic assistance. Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs out there, and smoking generally begets more smoking.
So if you don't smoke now, don't mess around!
All this must sound harsh to you smokers, but I have to develop an animosity toward it to be able to quit. I don't want to seem morally superior, either. I was hopelessly addicted, and if it weren't for some good people in my life and some healthier alternatives, I would still be.
If you want any further advice, I'd be happy to help.
Shoot an email to rleng@hillsdale.edu.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
Before I came back to school this semester, I went to the doctor for a physical. After listening to me breathing with his stethoscope, he informed me that my lungs were much older and more broken down than they should have been. He told me that I had better stop smoking.
Now, whenever someone told me, "You should quit," I assumed the person didn't know doodley-squat about nicotine addiction. But when your doctor tells you something, you listen.
My doctor suggested that clinical depression might also keep me smoking. He told me depression is over-represented among smokers, something else for me to consider. My reaction was a jerk-kneed, "Nah, I don't think so." Unfortunately, depression carries a social stigma, and nobody likes to admit that they suffer from it.
After a few minutes of denial, I confessed maybe depression was part of my problem. He also mentioned stress - a somewhat of a sexier ailment than depression - kept me smoking. Of course, this school is difficult academically, and most smokers here would admit the stress of papers, tests and the like keeps them smoking. But get a load of this: Stress is a banal fact of life, not just of Hillsdale College.
My doctor prescribed me the antidepressant Wellbutrin for three months while I get off the cigarettes. I also bought nicotine patches, and, so far, both the drug and the patch have helped. Unfortunately, insurance companies do not cover any of the costs of quitting. This can prove daunting, as a box of seven patches costs between 18 and 25 bucks. As for the Wellbutrin, my doctor prescribed it as an anti-depressant, not an aid to quit smoking. Apparently, insurance companies will cover the costs of treating depression but not the costs of quitting smoking.
Now, pills and patches help, but they don't take away all the pains of withdrawal, and they don't completely eliminate a desire to smoke. A desire to quit and a plan are equally important.
If you're not sure you want to quit yet, here are some benefits of quitting you might not have considered: Food will taste better because your sense of smell and taste will come roaring back after a week or two. You will recover from colds a lot faster, and that smokers cough will be gone in as little as a week. You will be able to run for more than a city block and not collapse. Sex will also become zestier. And the list of benefits goes on.
Even with these advantages, for a hardened smoker, it is hard to give up certain cigarettes. What worked for me was examining the "essential cigarettes of my daily life."
For instance, I noticed trying to drink alcohol and not smoke was as hard as trying to poop and not pee. So I had to stop drinking for a while. But don't worry. I can drink now without a craving.
I also found that I always smoked after I woke from sleep and after I finished a meal. For those cravings, I chew Orbit sweet mint gum and sometimes go for a quick jog. That may not sound appealing now, but the more you do it, the more it will call you.
Having people who genuinely care about your health - and not just about the pollution of their own air - helps more than you'd think. This might sound schmaltzy, but encouragement and accountability from your friends and family is always meaningful.
Smoking is one of the most avoidable causes of death in America today. Of course, that doesn't stop people from lighting up. More than anything, smoking is a problem because people refuse to admit their own weakness.
Everybody knows the weekend-party smokers - the National Guard of smokers, if you will - and how they claim they don't have an addictive personality. Take it from a hardcore Marine smoker (to push the metaphor to its breaking point): Smoking addiction needs no genetic assistance. Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs out there, and smoking generally begets more smoking.
So if you don't smoke now, don't mess around!
All this must sound harsh to you smokers, but I have to develop an animosity toward it to be able to quit. I don't want to seem morally superior, either. I was hopelessly addicted, and if it weren't for some good people in my life and some healthier alternatives, I would still be.
If you want any further advice, I'd be happy to help.
Shoot an email to rleng@hillsdale.edu.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
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