Anxiety when quitting smoking: how to overcome it in 6 steps

Several tips to leave behind the psychological and physiological discomfort of not being able to smoke.

Giving up an addiction is always a challengeIt forces us to make changes in our attention and impulse management, as well as in our habits. In the case of tobacco, one of the most popular addictive substances, this is complicated not only by the Biological part of dependence, but also by the contextual: we have become accustomed to having a cigarette in our hand, and we are surrounded by a society that constantly reminds us that many people smoke.

In this article we will see several tips on how to overcome the anxiety when quitting smokingand how we can adapt to the new healthier lifestyle. However, in any case, it should be clear that nothing will free us from having to invest time and effort in it.

How to manage anxiety when quitting smoking

Here are some tips that will help you keep anxiety at bay when you are trying to quit smoking. But you should know that if you don't do your part to put these initiatives into practice, the simple fact that you'll be crying here won't do you any good. So everything must start with a commitment to do what you can to keep your physical and mental health in the best possible state.

1. Learn to see discomfort as part of a challenge.

There are people who, in addition to the problem of experiencing anxiety about quitting smoking, add the problem of going into withdrawal, add the problem of getting into a pessimistic mindset..

For example, this is what happens to those who see something totally imposed from the outside in this suffering, and who therefore believe that nothing can be done to limit its effects, that perhaps it will always be there. Or in those who see in anxiety the first signs of an inevitable relapse, which is practically written in their destiny.

But there is another, much more constructive way of looking at this: discomfort is a constituent part of a challenge that we are going to beat the addiction. It's what makes it a challenge in the first place. Y it is also the indicator of our progressAs we progress, we will see in the decrease of that anxiety the consequence of a job well done. Leaving the monkey behind is a very real possibility.

2. Practice sports

Sport is an excellent way to help our attentional focus "disengage" from certain obsessions and their physiological impact on us: anxiety.

By engaging in an absorbing and complex task, but subject to a stable set of rules, our attention is focused on the immediate objectives of what is happening here and now in the context of the objectives of the game in question. Things that belong to another realm become unimportant in a matter of minutes.They fade into the background.

Of course, it is not necessary to start practicing sports every time we notice that the anxiety of quitting smoking is at the gates of our consciousness, about to put in check again our welfare, as this would be exhausting. But it is good to opt for this from time to time, in order to get used to to get used to not thinking about smoking for most of the day..

3. Avoid reminders from the tobacco world

Much of the challenge of combating the anxiety of quitting smoking has to do with how we expose ourselves to the "danger zones" where everything reminds us of smoking.

Choosing the smartest strategy is part of what we must do to take care of our health. Thus, as far as possible, we should avoid smoking-related reminders. Stop going to places characterized by a high concentration of smokers, change of scenery, etc.

4. Take a walk in nature

Regular exposure to places with clean air is a way to erase smoking from the mind. Firstly, in such a context it is very easy to relax, and secondly, the experience of breathing well helps us to miss smoking less.

5. Practice relaxation techniques

It is a very good idea to learn relaxation techniques and apply them in the moments when we feel anxiety coming on. In order to do so, we must try to have located areas in which it is feasible to withdraw for a moment and to and carry them out for a few minutes.

6. Lead a healthier life in general

If you embark on a more global change of lifestyle when you quit smoking, it will be easier to leave behind the anxiety of quitting. Why? Because your self-esteem will improveand in your way of generating self-concept (the idea you have of yourself) there will be a turning point in which you "change your life".

Thus, as you feel more capable of breaking with the old vices of the past, the feeling of building something new with your identity will prevail, and that illusion and sense of self-efficacy will prevail over anxiety (which, in the first stages, will not disappear completely).