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roliveira



Quit Date:
May 7, 2007

Posts: 26
Location: Massachusetts

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 10:08 AM    Post subject: Quit course ideas Reply with quote

I agree with the suggestions I see below regarding addiction and the emotional/psychological issues. I am on my third quit -- and successful this time because I was able to address the "security blanket" aspect of smoking. Ohter programs ask you to identify triggers and come up with your own solutions. More info on overcoming the psychological would have been most helpful to me. Obviously, the "go and sin no more" attitude doesn't work with addicts. Also, more information about once an addict, always an addict is helpful. As stated by others, once we fully understand the addiction, it is easier to fight it. Other programs gloss over this -- i.e., how to handle the psychological ramifications of a slip, how not to make a slip become a failure, etc.
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Roberta
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When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. Eccl 7:14
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ggarrison19



Quit Date:
October 12, 2004

Posts: 42
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 10:09 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Find a way to set realistic expectations without scaring the subject away. Like someone said, most seem to concentrate on the first 3 days to one week. At the end of that everybody gets all excited as if it were over. Unfortunately, we all know it is just beginning.

For me it took a long time to get my life back together. I don't really know how many others take as long. I just remember hitting various milestones and expecting that things should be easier by then. You remember, one month, three months, six months, etc. When they weren't, just the fact that they weren't seemed to sap energy. That's when there doesn't seem to be a light in the tunnel. You just need to put your head down and keep going.

You write much better than I do. I hope I have made my point clear enough.

Gary
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DreamWalker



Quit Date:
July 10, 2007

Posts: 25

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 11:07 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gee Kevin~
As a new quitter I don't feel have much to offer. All the advice I've read is very good.

For me I needed Education. Finding out about Nicotine withdrawal and that it is relatively painless physically, compared to other drugs. But I really need ways to "retrain my brain". (so to speak)

Because smoking was an emotioanl crutch. I needed some new ways of thinking. In the aspect of "Change your mind and Change your life". By learning new positive (Mantras and such) I was able to stop myself from Moping. Like I would say to my self NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) and don't MOPE. I have all kinds of positive phrases that I use when I catch myself trying to think I'm missing something. I have used them so repitiously that I rarely miss them any more. But I'm barely a month in.

I also understand that I have to guard this quit forever.
NOT ONE PUFF EVER! Is the only way to Keep The Quit!

I really had to work it though. I dug and dug until I could find a way to make this quit stick. I believe education was key. Will is important but that alone did not work for me in the past. You've got to want it. You have got to dig until something clicks. You have got to know the enemy.

Deep breathing, Exercise, Meditation all very helpfull tools.

I think facts and statistics of deaths and cancer and risks are good. But they never helped me sustain a quit. Very sorry to admit that My dear friend died as I held her from Cancer (with emphysema). It was a horrifying experience......I was determined to quit.....yet It still did not stick.
It still took me a few years to get here.

I guess I think smoking is such a brain thing...Psychological addiction. If you can retrain the brain you can win. But that goes for anything that we want to attain.....doesn't it?

Not much help here....but "Thanks" for being interested in my point of view.
Sincerely,
DreamWalker
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~I chose Freedom for Life 7/9/07 @ 6pm ~
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Garrocha



Quit Date:
October 7, 2005

Posts: 28
Location: DFW, Texas

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 11:45 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Kevin,
I received your email and thought I would give this a try. I took your advice and did not read any other posts, so here it goes....

First, there is one quote that finally caught my attention during my first month of quitting...."Get busy living, or get busy dieing." It's a quote from Shawshank Redemption but it kicked me in the butt, literally. I know that I had to get busy quitting smoking so I could live, or I should just go all the way and get on with destroying myself once and for all. Seems drastic, but that is how I looked at my quit. I had to do this, the alternative was death.

My quit revealed personal weaknesses. In the beginning of a quit, we all know that our one weakness is that we can't stay away from cigarettes and we "write it off" to cigarettes being as addictive as any illegal drug out there. They are, we all know that to be true. I feel; however, that the beginning of a quit is a huge psychology course where the smoker has to dig into their inner self. A person who fears death from smoking, finally decides to quit and stays smoke free for any length of time, then makes the choice to go ahead and smoke again, must say, in one way or another, "I don't care if it will kill me, I choose the smoke over life." There are many personal reasons a smoker makes this decision beyond nicotine addiction, I believe.

I think the one phrase I remember saying, over an over again, when I was a smoker, was "why do I keep doing this to myself?" I would stub out the smoke in disgust only to light another one up 15 minutes later. It wasn't until I started writing out lists that I realized why I continued to smoke. The reasons to smoke are different for everyone. The reasons to quit are different for everyone. The questions that provoke reflection are simple though.
Why do we want to live?
What do we care most about?
What don't we like about ourselves and how can we improve?
Why do we smoke and how can we manage the situation better without smoking a cigarette being a resolution?
ETC.....

Which brings me to my last thought. Journaling helped me more than anything. Reading other quitters journal entries and writing my own feelings down, then re-reading the entries. A simple format for a journal entry can be made and included in the course so it could be copied, because many people don't know where to begin whan asked to write a journal entry. A list of topics to write about could also be provided, we all know the topics we discussed on-line. Irritability, gas, zits, alternatives to smoking, day1, day 2, week 1, etc. Many people don't have access to the internet so they won't know what to write about. Giving them a long list of topics to write about will give them a jump on writing. Also, a copy of others journals might be provided as an "extra" item offered in the program. I now I have mountains of writings on-line and many other topics I have written about in my own personal journal. I know there are many others that do the same. Reading others thoughts helped me feel that I was not alone and that I could make it through if "x" person could make it through.

Hoped this helped in some way.

Greg
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QD: 10/07/05
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jahunta



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 1129
Location: Silicon(e) Valley, CA

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 12:51 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I guess I'll put in my 2 cents then, what with that edit in your post.

I found what really helped me was being faced with the bald-faced facts. It was pretty sobering and really helped me to understand what I was doing to my body. FFS was a great way to start because it gave you exercises with the facts. It's good information to hear all the chemicals in cigarettes and whatnot, even though those poisons were in scantl amounts. A mere fact like that I had known before I looked into quitting and did no good. But when you pair it with..."Now let's see how many cigarettes YOU'VE smoked up to this point." and you realize...Oh. Over time this really sucks. It kinda gives you the willies!

I call myself a "hard core" quitter, because what really got me to quit and STAY quit were the stories and pictures on WhyQuit.com of the people who had lost their lives to smoking. Particularly the story of "Kim's missing lung". The title itself is kind of creepy, but to actually SEE the not yet healing patchwork on her body actually made me quit faster than any fact finding list (I had to look it up to remind myself about the story, and I have the exact same physiological reaction).

In a nutshell, stating the facts and looking at how those facts are affecting the new quitter I found to be very effective. Even though the pictures got me to quit, it doesn't work for everyone, and in most cases grosses people out. Not a lot of people want to see sutures going up the greater part of a person's side...

Nita
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alleghany



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 2049

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 3:27 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

First, I think there is a "formula" to quiting. Yes, everyone's quit is different, but there are several key factors that will determine success, imo.

Here are few which I would "require" prior to taking the course.

1. The student must want to quit for his/her self. Red flags are "I've gotta"...."My husband"....."My children"......"Really don't want to, but the doctor says"..... That person does not want to quit and will not. Sorry, even cute little babies are not the reason. Which comes first, the baby or the quit? If you look around this site, successful quiters quit for themselves then the little bundles of joy (literal and figurative) come along.

2. The course would require (I mean REQUIRE) that if the person wants to smoke he/she must (MUST) speak with other members of the course. The "relapses" I have witnessed here - over 3 years now - were by those who did not seek support from the group before smoking. Group accountablity is a big deal.

3. I would go into the course with an understanding that males and females quit differently. For instance, while I think quiting is emotional no matter what, women tend to have a better/longer quit when they explore the reasons behind. Also, I think men need and respond better to seeing other successful men. I notice this with posting patterns here. So, I would consider sub-grouping for support in a quit course.


what would the course have in it? (what features would it contain?)
On-line, clear method of instruction. It would contain sweeping statements followed with specific examples. For instance, "Change behavior pattern" EG "Don't smoke in the same place". Things like that.


how would it be presented to the student?
On -line, e-course.

how would it be delivered to the student?
(Same as above.)

how would it keep the student engaged?
Support group. You could have a whole section here that is an active "class". Notice how we tend to group into "quit buddies" from the same time of our quit. This is sometimes called the quit class by some.

how would you know whether or not it was working for the student
If they successfully quit smoking.

Good luck with this! Cool
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Backfist



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 340
Location: Rome, Georgia

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 5:30 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Kevin! Wow, you've chosen a hefty project, and a worthwhile one! My two cents:

1. I think some sort of writing component would be so helpful. Writing forces you to truly THINK about what's going on with yourself, and putting it down in black and white helps you to own up to it, so to speak. Self-honesty and all. As you know, I went through the FFS program, and one thing I did was write a montlhy ramble online for the entire first year of my quit. That really helped cement the reality of living smoke free! And I kept motivated by reading how my words affected others.

2. I think the course would need some sort of accountability aspect. In my 3D world, I wrote out a quit smoking contract and had a friend whom I really admire/respect sign it as a witness! Really helpful, and kept me accountable. (I knew I would hate to have to confess to him I'd started smoking again.)

3. I think encouraging/promoting some sort of support system is crucial, too. My main support has come through on-line communities, although my friends and family were supportive. I was just about the only smoker left in my circle of friends/family, and as we all know, sometimes you need to interact with others in the same boat!

I guess those three areas provided me the most help in my own quit. I used the patch, and at the time I thought it provided a lot of help, but now, in retrospect, I think the above areas were actually more helpful in quitting successfully.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses, and "visiting" with friends from "the past!"

I've found over the years that many everyday folks have written very eloquently about the particular pitfalls of addiction. It's nice to read such examples of honesty and wisdom.

Take care, everyone. Hope you are having a great summer!

Dekie
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
-

Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 8:49 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks again to everyone who's taken the time to respond; i can't tell you how much i appreciate the things you've written here. a lot of what you've said agrees with what i'd already envisioned for the course, but a lot of it doesn't, and that makes me stop and think, and that's a very good thing; as i said way up top there, none of us is as smart as all of us, and this thread is the living proof of that.

keep it coming! Smile
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kevin

the zen of the quit
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Patty129



Quit Date:
February 18, 2007

Posts: 828
Location: Saginaw, MI

PostPosted: August 7, 2007 10:29 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have thought about this response for two days.....and to really get into all of my thoughts, needs and wants around this issue would take up several pages....but I will try to "nutshell" as best I can.

I didn't need a "course" in the beginning of my quit....I wasn't there yet....I needed support, I needed care and concern and I needed to process what I was feeling. As my quit progressed I needed the "heady" stuff....I'm an educator and value education, and the quit, the addiction, and my body's response to that was what I needed to understand.....I needed to be able to make sense out of what I was living through. What I found was very little NEW stuff.....so much of the information on line about addiction is out dated. Shevie had a post on here that got me into research mode and as I learned about brain chemistry and all the gene research going on around the issue of addiction, it really helped me understand what was happening to me, it made me realize how my recovery would most likely progress and why, and it made me sooooo aware that my continuing to smoke for so many years was not a character flaw or a moral issue......

Anyway.....what I would include in any course on this topic would be the latest research coupled with a large dose of support.....without both of those elements, I doubt if I would be smoke free today.

Kevin, I hope you share the course with us when you're ready to implement it.....Patty
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wiley



Quit Date:
March 20, 2005

Posts: 357
Location: NYC

PostPosted: August 8, 2007 1:48 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

hey kevin-

not sure I can add much here-

1. support - gotta build a support system around you, be it woofmang, family, whatever.
2. planning - do ffs, study up, have a quit date
3. nrt- that patch was really helpful for me
4. keep a list of your reasons for quiting, with you at all times
5. build in a system of rewards
6. being present/awareness of time- I found just focusing on the moment, not thinking ahead but just focusing on not smoking now, was really helpful. Once I started thinking about not smoking for a long period, it got harder..........small bits............
7. deep breathing exercises
8. avoiding alcohol - important
9. Funny but ultimately you have to want to quit, never really understood that until I was in the throes and made the choice to live...........

if I think of others, I'll pass them on...............
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nana



Quit Date:
November 10, 2003

Posts: 4

PostPosted: August 8, 2007 6:34 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Kevin,
I am stopping in very quickly and haven't time to read all your replies
for me the most important tools for this quit were
EASY = Education ~ Attitude ~ Support ~ You
I learned all I could about the addiction
I kept a positive attitude...I can do this
I had support here and at other online sites
You, meaning myself...I believed I could accomplish this

hope this helps, I know it is brief, but it really was the key to my quitting sucessfully this time.
Have an awesome day...KTQ
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UB



Quit Date:
-

Posts: 93
Location: Maryland

PostPosted: August 8, 2007 9:55 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

I had a pre-quit day. I gave my husband my cigs and told him only to give me one if I threatened to kill him. That way I learned what my major stressors were and was able to plan for them.

The people here at woofmang and the American Lung Association were absolutely necessary in my quit. I felt that I had continual support--not just during the daylight hours.

I, also, had to realize that whether I smoked or not was my choice. Whether the day was stressful or not had nothing to do with it.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head. If I can think of anything more, I will send it on.

I have been quit for 3 yrs, 3 mos.
Thanks for all the support.
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: August 8, 2007 11:42 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks again for all the great replies! i'm copying and pasting all of them into files here on my workstation so i can refer to them online or off as i work on laying out the course. they're all helpful, and i appreciate your time and thoughtfulness in responding.

Smile
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kevin

the zen of the quit
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VolksWes



Quit Date:
June 27, 2007

Posts: 32
Location: Alabama

PostPosted: August 9, 2007 8:09 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will do my best to help you, but I have to say that I can't offer much help right now. Me and my girlfriend broke up due to some stupidity from me, and I can't help but think of anything else right now....looks like no chance of ever gaining her back. Crying or Very sad
Hopefully I will be able to help you after I go through a little more healing here.
Really bad off here right now.. ...to the point of making myself sick

Still not smoking though
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kevin
Site Admin


Quit Date:
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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: August 9, 2007 9:02 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

sorry to hear it, wes. and, while i admire your taking responsibility for the breakup, i hope you don't lose sight of the fact that there are at least two sides to every human interaction. and if there's truly no chance of ever getting her back, there's a reason for that, and that reason involves more than whatever you just did (stupid or not).

hang in there, buddy.
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kevin

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