12 habits and tricks to prevent tobacco dependency

Several tricks to prevent tobacco dependence from appearing in our lives.

Tobacco is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances worldwide. Along with alcohol, it is a legal substance that has traditionally been well regarded socially and can nowadays be consumed freely in public.

But it is also addictive and has significant health effects, including a decrease in life expectancy, a weakening of the Cardiovascular system and an increased risk of respiratory diseases or even lung cancer.

This is why many smokers want to quit, and why there are major awareness and prevention campaigns. How to prevent smoking or, if you have been a smoker before, how to prevent relapse? Throughout this article we are going to mention 12 habits and tricks to prevent smoking.

Habits and tricks useful in the prevention of tobacco dependence.

Dependence on tobacco, or rather on the nicotine it contains, is one of the most common addiction-related problems and is often not seen as serious or excessively harmful. But as time goes by and as the level of information available regarding its effects increases, there is more and more concern and demand for preventive measures with respect to tobacco consumption.

There are many preventive measures that we can employ, both at an institutional and personal level. Below we will look at different measures that can be taken into account in order to avoid getting hooked on tobacco and nicotine consumption or getting hooked again.regardless of our age and condition.

1. Inform yourself

The first and most basic habit we can recommend is to get informed. Although there are many prevention campaigns, the truth is that many of them are often ignored and rejected. However, seeking truthful and reliable information from oneself can help us to take the data more seriously and the need to prevent consumption may arise. It is important that this information is truthful and that it comes from someone with a critical view of consumption.

2. Train the critical spirit

Many people start smoking mainly by imitation or by identifying the fact of doing so with maturity or being interesting, considering it a symbol of rebellion and virility. This vision of tobacco comes to a large extent from advertising on television, in the cinema or as a legacy of the traditional vision promoted by the industry.

In this sense, it can be useful to carry out a training in terms of critical spirit, in which the person must form his own point of view and not just believe what he is told or shown. It is a matter of seeking information that allows us to verify our beliefs.

3. Do not promote contact with an environment of habitual consumption.

We have already indicated that one of the reasons for starting consumption is often to integrate into a group, especially in the case of adolescents. In this sense, it can be useful to have some control over our environment and the places where we spend our time.

Obviously, we are not talking about relating to others based on whether or not they smoke, but rather of try to avoid elements of the environment that facilitate consumptionTry not to frequent smoking areas or do so in areas where smoking is not allowed (for example, during activities such as going to the movies).

4. Look for role models

One of the causes of people starting to smoke is the existence of relevant or admired people who are smokers. One way to prevent smoking is precisely to use the opposite case: to be or look for a referent who does not smoke and who is admired by the person in question.

5. Listen to examples of ex-smokers

People who smoked in the past but have now successfully quit can also serve as role models, and they can talk openly about the problems that smoking has caused them throughout their lives and what it has meant for them to reach the point of quitting. what it has meant for them to achieve recovery..

6. Assess the economic impact

One way to make us more reluctant to use tobacco has to do not so much with health but with money: smoking is not free and in fact it is increasingly expensive, so that falling into its consumption or getting hooked on it has an economic implication that can make some people consider consumption as something inconvenient.

7. Consider the advantages of non-consumption

Smoking prevention can benefit from dealing not only with the negative aspects and problems that smoking can cause, but also by positively evaluate the situation and the advantages of not smoking or of having stopped smoking. or having stopped smoking.

8. Set limits

Whether the person who is interested in smoking is you or someone you know, it can be helpful to set certain limits and state them clearly. This implies taking into account the places where smoking may or may not take place (for example, not at home), something that nowadays and according to current legislation is only possible on public roads (and not at all). make it more difficult for the desire to smoke to appear..

9. Assess the effect it has on those around you.

Smoking not only has repercussions on the person who smokes but also affects their environment, making them passive smokers if the consumption is carried out near them. This can be especially harmful for children, the elderly and people with a depressed immune system.

Many people, in fact, find in this point one of the reasons to change their smoking habits and try to quit.

10. Train your assertiveness

Often many young people start smoking because of social pressure from peers or friends or as an activity that is linked to socialization, although some have no real desire to smoke per se. Training in an assertive style of behavior and response can be helpful in this regard: the person must learn to defend his or her position firmly but respecting the other's view and feelings.. In this sense there are different techniques that can be learned, such as the broken record or the fog bank.

11. Learn relaxation techniques

Many people resort to tobacco due to the belief that nicotine allows those who consume it to relax in situations of anxiety. This belief is partly the result of a misinterpretation (since, in fact, nicotine is an exciting and not a relaxing substance) derived from the tolerance that smokers end up acquiring to the substance and that in them it does generate a feeling of tranquility by providing the body with a substance without which it is not accustomed to function.

It can be useful to avoid smoking and above all to prevent possible relapses by working on relaxation techniques. Techniques such as relaxation and the Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation therapy can be of great help in combating moments of anxiety or resisting the temptation to smoke.

12. Physical activity is your ally

Probably one of the habits that most help to avoid getting hooked on substances such as tobacco, one of the simplest protective factors to carry out and one of the most beneficial, is the regular practice of sports. Regular physical exercise brings a large number of benefits such as an improvement in mood, the release of endorphins and the reduction of anxiety states.

Bibliographical references:

• Berlin, I.; Singleton, E. G.; Pedarriosse, A. M.; Lancrenon, S.; Rames, A.; Aubin, H. J.; Niaura, R. (2003). "The Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale: factorial structure, gender effects and relationship with nicotine dependence and smoking cessation in French smokers". Addiction. 98 (11): 1575-1583.
• Urberg, K.; Shyu, S. J.; Liang, J. (1990). "Peer influence in adolescent cigarette smoking". Addictive Behaviors. 15 (3): 247-255.