To quit smoking cold turkey is really a fantasy in the mind of most smokers. I should know, I used to smoke two packs a day. The idea of stopping smoking cold turkey “just like that” was a dream I entertained, usually when I was smoking. But is it a realistic prospect for most smokers? In this article I shall attempt to answer that question.
As a former smoker, I would have to say that to quit smoking cold turkey is completely unadvisable. Something that non-smokers fail to understand is the extent to which smokers develop an emotional attachment with their habit. When I smoked, cigarettes seemed to fill the hole of just about every emotion for me. If I was anxious, I would smoke. If I was ecstatic, I would smoke. If I was bored, I would smoke. If I drank, I would smoke. Cigarettes weren’t just a habit - they were an extension of me.
I believe that is something many smokers can empathise with. Non-smokers see it as just a habit, whereas smokers are well-aware that cigarettes have become part of their identity. It’s not just a simple case of stopping a habit…it’s a case of slicing off a limb. It’s like one is saying goodbye to an old friend, feeling they will never be quite the same again.
So with this in mind, it seems like a monumental task to quit smoking cold turkey. It’s like breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend you have a deep love/hate relationship with, but then having that same partner move in next door to you. You have to live with the knowledge that this partner, with whom you shared such a deep relationship, is just around the corner. To quit smoking cold turkey is like being told “Okay, now avoid thinking about your ex and under no circumstances knock on her door.”
If we could all quit smoking cold turkey without any kickbacks, then we would do so. According to non-smokers, it’s simply a question of willpower. But it is far, far more than that. Willpower is just about having the mental fortitude to get through the day and to “suck it up”. Quitting smoking has more emotional gravitas than that. Rather than simply getting through the day, it’s about being able to let go. It’s about being able to make your peace with the habit and wave it farewell.
Millions of people manage to quit smoking cold turkey, but I have no doubt the vast majority of them are haunted by smoking for the rest of their lives, just as we would be by our ex-partner living next door to us. If you wish to quit smoking cold turkey, simply ensure that you are changing your mindset while you’re at it. You have to fall out of love with smoking, you have to know why it’s a bad habit, you have to know why you don’t need it, you have to know why it’s not a part of you. You need to answer all these questions to quit the habit for good, and ensure that being an ex-smoker isn’t a day-to-day battle for the years to come.
Jonty Smith is a former smoker based in the U.K.
After 10 years of smoking two packs a day, Jonty finally managed to quit in 2006. His story of how he managed to beat the habit is available for free reading at http://www.how-i-stopped-smoking.com
