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Spontaneous quitting - is it better?
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jimotter



Quit Date:
November 19, 2003

Posts: 2411
Location: Everett Washington

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 4:09 AM    Post subject: Spontaneous quitting - is it better? Reply with quote

SUNDAY, Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers are often told the best way to nix their habit is to have a game plan, including a quit day and a quit strategy. But could that advice be counterproductive?

In a recent study putting that question to the test, smokers who quit spontaneously -- without advance planning -- had a greater chance of succeeding than those who planned ahead. The results, published in the British Medical Journal, seem to flout traditional smoking-cessation guidance.

Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Boston University who examines tobacco control policies and smoking behavior, said the findings make a lot of sense.

"Planned quit attempts are implemented gradually and thus the level of motivation is probably rather low," he said. "But these unplanned, sudden attempts probably reflect some sentinel event or great tension that precipitates a very high level of motivation to quit. And thus these attempts are more successful," he reasoned.

Study authors Robert West and Taj Sohal liken the unplanned quit attempt to what mathematicians call "catastrophe theory." The idea is simply this: As tensions build up, even small triggers can lead to sudden and dramatic shifts in action. In nature, such forces might lead to, say, an avalanche. In much the same way, a smoker becomes disgusted with his habit, creating tension that, eventually, triggers a split decision to kick the habit.

Siegel said the study points to the need to focus on motivating smokers to want to quit. He said there's been too much emphasis on promoting pharmaceutical aids to help people quit. "If we can get smokers motivated enough, they will succeed in quitting, regardless of the mechanism."

Thomas Glynn, director of cancer science and trends and director of international tobacco programs at the American Cancer Society in Washington, D.C., said the research is intriguing.

"What this study does is certainly require us to take a step back and look at different decision-making styles that people have," he said. But without further study bearing out these results, the cancer society would not consider revisiting its smoking cessation advice. "We certainly wouldn't want to do it on the basis of one study, particularly one that's based on retrospective data," he added.


For their study, the researchers compared data on 918 smokers who had made at least one quit attempt with the experiences of 996 successful former smokers. Almost half -- 48.6 percent -- of smokers said their most recent quit attempts were made without previous planning, and these spontaneous attempts were more likely to succeed for at least six months.

In fact, the odds of quitting successfully for at least six months were higher for unplanned quit attempts than for those that involved some pre-planning.

Presuming their theory is correct, the researchers propose that public health campaigns focus on what they dub the "3 Ts" -- creating motivational tension in smokers, triggering action in those who are on the cusp of change, and supporting them with treatment, such as nicotine patches and counseling.

"In practice, worry about health and being fed up with the cost of smoking seem to be the main sources of tension that people can report," said West, a professor of health psychology at University College London and lead author of the study.

As for what finally triggers a quit attempt, West has compiled a list based on results of monthly surveys he conducts of people on their most recent quit attempt. For some, it's health-related. They worry about future health problems or a current health problem, they get advice from a health professional or they get pregnant. Others stop because they know someone who is stopping, decide it's too expensive, face smoking restrictions or encounter pressure from family or friends.

"For most smokers, (quitting) is a process, and it may culminate for many people -- more than we thought, if this study proves to be correct -- that they do make a very spontaneous decision," Glynn observed. "But that's in all likelihood the culmination of a series of decisions over a period of years leading to that day."

What's unclear in this study, he said, is whether people defined that process as "planned" or "unplanned."

So, is quitting on a whim a better strategy? Or is planning a better option for some? "The truth is that we just don't know what the best strategy is," conceded West, who acknowledged that planning may help some smokers quit.

"The most important thing," he added, "is for smokers to realize that if they are experiencing powerful urges or feeling really bad because of withdrawal symptoms, they can help themselves by using nicotine patches or one of the other medications and by using specialist support, either by telephone or face to face."
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Patty129



Quit Date:
February 18, 2007

Posts: 828
Location: Saginaw, MI

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 6:33 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting study, Jim, haven't seen that one before.....it holds true to how I quit this time.....my planned quits never lasted. Thanks for posting this.
Patty
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Trader2699



Quit Date:
August 14, 2007

Posts: 11

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 7:24 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Someone at work forwarded me this. I planned to actually quit next week, but I've been 3 days as of this morning.

Hopefully this study is right. Very Happy
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Carla



Quit Date:
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Posts: 347
Location: Kansas City, MO

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 8:40 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was a spontaneous quitter. I was standing outside in the winter, waiting for a bus to go to work, smoking a cigarette and thinking about a friend I work with who was quitting that day. In that moment I decided to quit, too. I took one cigarette out of the pack to smoke with coffee when I got to work and that was the last cigarette I ever smoked. When I got to work I realized the enormity of my decision and thought "what the hell have I done?" I got online, found the FFS program and did a crash course. The spontaneous quit worked for me. I have a tendency to analyze things too much and if I had planned the quit for a later date, I think I would have talked myself out of it. The decision I made that day was an emotional one and maybe that made the difference.
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texas2step



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Location: Texas

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 9:19 AM    Post subject: could be Reply with quote

Just an observation but the people who conducted the study most likely are "never smokers" and I think that tends to skew some of their ideas and possibly their data by result (in my humble opinion non smokers cannot really understand smokers) but mostly what I wanted to say is, I still believe quitting is as personal as someone's food choices. Every one of us is different and it takes different methods to quit.

I don't think for one minute that any single study can outline the many facets of smokers nor predict with total accuracy who will succeed and who will fail. It's an interesting read but I hope some people don't take it too seriously - the ones who want to quit smoking that is and are once again being told there is only "this way" to do it. It's a shame to have anyone discouraged in any way (again just my humble 02)

I quit cold turkey and I planned it. But I feel the same way about drug companies that say you can't quit without using their products. Bunk! I didn't use any patches or other nicotine substitute and no Chantix or any other mind altering drug and I quit just fine. If someone thinks they need such things that's fine too. Whatever it takes to quit and stay quit is great.

Hopefully anyone who plans their quit won't see this study as some kind of sign they didn't do it "right" cause there's no right and wrong really.

Spouting off from Texas early today -Wink

well it gets too hot later for anything but siesta

Texas
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swaneem



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Location: Arizona

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 9:25 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

My quit was also unplanned....ended up in the emergency as the result of an accident and although I could not smoke in the hospital...I made the decision then and there that it was over and I never looked back.

Before that I had 3 previous "planned" attempts to quit....including the patch and a local support group ...

Very interesting study.

Donna

p.s. I also believe that "planned" attempts work as proven here by the many who have used FFS and other methods...it's different for everyone.
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alleghany



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Posts: 2049

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 9:32 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm like Texas, I quit cold turkey and I planned it.

Where the article is acurate, imo, is with "repeat" quiters. I've seen a lot of anecdotal truth to their theory.

I was asked again the other day why I quit. I told the doctor I thought I had given myself lung cancer at age 37. "That'll do it" was his reply.

Thanks for posting and the discussion. Cool
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kevin
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Quit Date:
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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 10:31 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for posting this, jim.

did i miss something here? what i read was that 48.6% of the people in this study said they quit without planning (and i wonder how they arrived at this number? 48.6% of 918 is 446.148; which smoker in this study was 14.8% of a person?), but i'm not sure who decided that these spontaneous efforts were "more likely to succeed for at least six months": was that the researchers' opinion or the former smokers'?

another interesting question is how would the researchers propose to "create motivational tension" in smokers? i personally watched my father and one of my brothers die of cancer: these were events that created a fair amount of "motivational tension" in me to quit, but somehow i managed to avoid being "triggered" over "the cusp of change", and i didn't need nrts or therapy to succeed once i did take the plunge...

i notice that this study is generating a lot of buzz; it's all over the front page of google, msn, and various other news outlets and quit-related sites (interesting how all these sites just jump on the bandwagon without questioning this study even a little bit: the big headline at msn health was, "Quitting on Impulse May Be Smokers' Best Bet"), but i can't seem to locate the actual study, or any information on who sponsored it.

personally, i'd be interested to know who paid for this study, because then i might reasonably draw some inferences about their motivation for advancing this particular agenda (studies like this don't come cheap, and whoever footed the bill for this one had to have some reason for doing so)...
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daggy12



Quit Date:
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Location: Palm Bay, FL

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 10:42 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I planned my quit 2 weeks in advance. I guess i felt more prepared for stress and had many ideas (from you guys) and support (from you guys) to be ready. And any questions i've had you guys have been able to answer. For me the best thing I did was look for a support group. Very Happy
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jahunta



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

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 11:27 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is an interesting article.
I can't really argue the findings, but I think the fact still remains that everyone's quit is different and the trick is to find what works for you. I was kind of a combination of both. I came to FFS, Whyquit and Woofmang because I couldn't sustain a 4-bar phrase singing a Bach mass. That was my "high level motivation" to quit. I actually began cutting back immediately, went to FFS, set my date and quit 6 days before I said I was going to. So, in my case they both worked. It doesn't matter which one works "better", as long as they work.
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Zuzu



Quit Date:
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Location: Marin

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 1:37 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mine was semi-planned. I'd set a date but really didn't "plan" or "prepare" - I found the online support programs after I'd stopped because realized in the wake of a few days of struggling that I needed support.

I think it might have to do with the kind of "learner" that we are. I'm an experiential learner. Information enhances any activity for me AFTER I've attempted the activity. My interest level in the information heightens when it becomes more personal.

While I've done well in the traditional class room setting - I get deeper learning when I have some experiential basis with it. Suddenly the information comes alive, becomes meaningful and sticks.
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jimotter



Quit Date:
November 19, 2003

Posts: 2411
Location: Everett Washington

PostPosted: August 16, 2007 7:36 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is interesting to see everyones responses to this. I planned my quit. The planning started in September when I saw saw something that rocked me out of my shoes. Some may know my story already. My wife was in the hospital for leg surgery in early September 2003. I went to visit her and I saw a gentleman walking down the hallway pushing his oxygen tank on a rolling rack. WhenI got to my wifes room she wanted to go have a smoke, so off we went to the smoking area outside of the building. Guess who was there smoking? Yeah this gentlelan taking off his mask to take a hit on his cigarette and than putting the mask back on so he could breath. Well that kicked me hard and so I planned my quit for the 20th of November, that year the Great American Smokeout was on the 20th. I just jumped ahead one day and quit on the 19th. I guess you could say I did it both ways I planned and jumped ahead by one day. Anyway, thought it would be interseting to see what everyone thought about this article.
Jim
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Seabrez



Quit Date:
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Posts: 4458
Location: Gulf Coast

PostPosted: August 21, 2007 6:30 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting...personally, I've done it both ways...impulse and planned and both ways failed in the past. I planned this one...and tend to believe it's more of what is in the heart than whether we plan the quit or not. It's the state of our heart and head that makes the difference. I also believe, information and understanding are big factors in staying quit.

Everyone is different and no one size fits all! Wink

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Barbara K.



Quit Date:
December 23, 2004

Posts: 5977

PostPosted: August 23, 2007 5:17 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I quit 8 days before my planned quit so I guess you could say it was spontanuously. Although, I feel without my previous preparation for the failed quits I had and learning from them, I would not have the foundation to build upon this quit I have now.
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Genevieve



Quit Date:
February 6, 2008

Posts: 95

PostPosted: August 30, 2007 8:13 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting,

My first thought of quitting came and went, I was scared and not prepared. Upon visiting and reading at ffs, whyquit and here, I realized that this nicotine is an addiction. I believe that knowledge and preperation has given me the tools to use when I have a crave, a thought or an image of smoking....quitting cold turkey has worked for me.

Yes, this quittig is a process, knowledge and a positive attitude are definitely the keys to my success Very Happy

Genny
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