I want to go back to smoking: 5 tips to avoid relapsing to smoking

Psychological advice on how to deal with the urge to start smoking again.

Tobacco consumption is an addictive habit that is widespread throughout the world, to such an extent that certain professional bodies have categorized it as a "near pandemic" event.

It is estimated that 3 out of every 10 people on Earth smoke.This gives an astronomical total of 1.3 billion smokers worldwide. It is not surprising, given these figures, that 15% of deaths in the European Union are directly due to tobacco.

As indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO), up to half of the people who develop nicotine dependence end up dying from it. Every year, more than 8 million addicted patients die because of this substance, as people who smoke cigarettes increase up to 30 times the probability of developing lung cancer during their lifetime.

With all these data in hand, we can only agree with those who argue that "not smoking is the healthiest thing a person can do in their entire life". However, as with any addictive substance, quitting tobacco becomes a titanic task and the failure rate when trying to quit nicotine is almost universal. If your brain is telling you "I want to go back to smoking", don't despair.Here are 5 tips to avoid relapsing.

"I want to go back to smoking": how to avoid relapsing into smoking.

Nicotine is a drug and therefore people who smoke are addicted. The first step is to recognize the individual state and not to deny the reality: nicotine reports up to 5 times more dependence than cocaine, so if one seems dangerous at a social level, the other is equally or more so.

Based on this premise, we deal with this topic taking into account that the addicted person is a patient with a psychological disorder, specifically a Substance Use Disorder, and relapse is a psychological disorder.and relapse is one more step within this picture. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) conceives addiction as a disease in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, so it requires specific treatment.

After making this concept clear, here are 5 tips to avoid relapsing into smoking once you have managed to quit. Don't miss them.

1. Know your condition: you will see that what is happening to you is normal.

As they say, knowledge is power. Sometimes, the things that happen inside our bodies seem like a work of magic, but nothing could be further from the truth: living beings are chemicals, hormones and neural connections. we are chemicals, hormones and neuronal connections..

When nicotine enters the human body, it passes into the Blood and then into the brain in a matter of seven seconds. Once in the brain tissue, it stimulates neurons in the nucleus accumbens, which are responsible for releasing dopamine and noradrenaline, hormones and neurotransmitters that are vital in activating the reward system. Therefore, when consuming this drug, the patient feels an extremely punctual and fast, but intense relief.

The problem lies in the fact that the neurons become habituated to the substance.The problem lies in the fact that the neurons become habituated to the substance, so that arousal and dopamine release require increasing amounts of the drug. This results in the tolerance typical of addicted patients. With these data, we want to tell you that it is normal for your brain to "seek" this immediate reward in the form of an addictive substance, especially in extreme emotional moments.

We encourage you, if you feel you want to start smoking again, to learn about the physiological and neurological mechanisms involved in substance addictions, especially nicotine. If you know your condition, you will be able to better verbalize your feelings with a professional and you will stop feeling so helpless in the face of something that is, indeed, partly beyond your control.

2. Learn to manage stress

The scientific article Anxiety and Tobaccopublished in the journal Psychosocial Intervention, cites that people who are more stressed are more likely to start smoking. Interestingly, many people start smoking to manage stress, but the addicted condition increases much more the feeling of generalized anxiety and discomfort. and discomfort.

Stress, anxiety and smoking are sides of the same coin: if you want to defeat your addiction, you have to learn to manage the underlying stress that led you to it in the first place. There are multiple techniques that will help you do this, but it is best to address all of these issues with a professional in the field. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, deep breathing, occupational therapy and many other mechanisms can help with stress management.

3. Try nicotine medication

As indicated by the Mayo Clinic, medications with low nicotine content can help patients to better cope with moments of intense cravings. Remember that an addiction is a disease and, as such, it is sometimes necessary to resort to pharmacological treatment as a primary approach. Don't see it as a defeat: drugs are there to help you when you cannot achieve something on your own..

4. Get physically active

As soon as you feel your craving for tobacco growing, put on your sweatpants and go for a run. While you exercise you can't smoke and, in addition, you will release endorphins and other compounds that will help you feel better.

Finally, it should be noted that with physical activity, unconsciously, breathing is regulated, something very useful to combat involuntary hyperventilation that takes place in moments of intense anxiety. Staying active is the best ally when it comes to overcoming an emotionally adverse situation.

5. Analyze your impulses and discover the stressors.

If you feel that you want to smoke again, do not focus on what you feel at the moment, but on what events have made you reach the momentary state. Think about what has happened in your life recently, what the main changes have been and even, if you want, write down on a piece of paper What do you think it is that has made you feel the urge to use tobacco again?.

Ideally, you should discuss your immediate feelings with a psychologist in the future, as he or she will help you to elucidate the possible stressors that have led you to associate nicotine with well-being again. If this is not possible, you can also try to carry out this analysis on your own.

Final notes

If you relapse into smoking despite having put all these tips into practice, keep the following concept as a maxim: don't feel guilty. Of all the people who try to quit smoking, 75% relapse and, on average, it takes a person three attempts to quit for good. Allow yourself to fail, then As a patient, it is normal that you make mistakes and do not know how to manage your clinical picture on your own..

If you relapse into your addiction, stop thinking about it and channel your frustration into planning a new action plan. If you have not been able to deal with the addiction on your own, seek out professionals to support you and teach you the right tools to learn to control your impulses. With perseverance and medical attention, you will undoubtedly succeed in overcoming your addiction.