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Revised October 6, 2008 -- See changes.html for a revision history. In particular, check changes.html for new groups added. The most compelling changes are indicated in capitals and italics. |
Why you should *NOT* build a web site at Geocities |
I got it for free at http://come.to |
Links To All Major Pages On This Web Site. Plus Links to the Visibility Project, Quit-Meters, and My Email | |
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* Index page and introduction to this web site at index.html (this page) * INTERNET QUIT SMOKING DISCUSSION GROUPS (chat, forums, newsgroups, mailing lists, etc.) at groupsa.html and groupsb.html * Quit Smoking Cards - Introduction -- Things to Tell Yourself When Strong Cravings Hit and Won't Go Away, Introduction, at cardsA.html * Quit Smoking Cards - The Main Cards and The Reasons To Quit List at cardsB.html * Additional Sayings, Slogans, and Reasons at cardsC.html * Quit Smoking Research and Web Pages. Also Some General Substance Abuse Programs, at research.html * Methods For Quitting Smoking at methods.html * Mental Conditioning To Resist Cravings -- Descriptions of Two Books ("Rational Recovery..." and "When AA Doesn't Work For You ..."), and Descriptions Of The Cards, at mental.html * A Tour of the Nicotine Anonymous Web Site at nicatour.html * Chat Rooms (web-based) listing at groupsa.html#Chat * Chat (real time meeting) details You don't need to read this page unless you want to get into special chat programs like IRC and ICQ. At chatguru.html * Online groups operated by Nicotine Anonymous members, at nicagroups.html |
* Articles related to quitting smoking, at articlesa.html. Also, articlesb.html Currently, there are only five articles,
(1) Smoker's Face -- An Evident Reason To Quit, and it is the most compelling article about smoking that I've ever seen. Besides premature wrinkles and skin blotches, it describes numerous other skin conditions that are worsened by poor circulation. (2) Health Benefits Of Stopping Smoking. This is a short list of the health improvements that occur in 20 minutes, 8 hours, 1 day, ... (3) Smoking Cessation - A Growing Array of Medications. This lists the pros and cons of the patch, Nicorette gum, the inhaler, nasal spray, and Zyban (4) Just This Once Excerpt: "If you find yourself planning to do something "just this once" watch out. It means you're about to compromise your own values. Whatever it is, you already know it's wrong." (5) 41 Tips For Gaining Freedom From Nicotine (6) Can You Hide Smoking From Life Insurance Companies? Factoid from article: nicotine and its breakdown products are undetectable after 72 hours (3 days). * Visibility Project -- Making Small 12 Step Organizations and Other Support Groups Better Known and Easier To Find, at http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings /Spa/9595/index.html * Quit-Meters (free) -- Keeps track of minutes, hours, days, etc. that you have been quit. Silkquit is a recommended favorite. There are several other quit-meters at this site too. At http://www.silkquit.org/meters.html * Changes And Addendum. Lets you know what's changed, and what's new * Email me at jalars (atsign) compuserve.com |
Links To Pages Of Non-General Interest On This Web Site | |
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* For problems of all types -- support groups and self-help programs. * Twin Cities Nicotine Anonymous at tcnica.html |
* Minnesota Help Resources - Where to find help for personal problems of all kinds such as addiction, mental health, family issues, grief, etc. At minnhelp.html |
Whereas in many previous quits, I succumbed to the cravings even though I carried around and read a "reasons to quit list". Some of the cards are "reasons to quit". But most of the cards were, for me, much more powerful than that, particularly the ones that have rational statements to tell oneself when the cravings hit, like:
"Having just one cigarette won't sooth my cravings for long -- I will just want another cigarette even more strongly 10 minutes after I'm done with it."
"A cigarette might taste and feel good, but not all that great, certainly nothing to blow a quit over".
"I don't want to have to go through another quit. I may not succeed in quitting again, or it might be terribly difficult, even more difficult than this quit."
A reasons - to - quit list is helpful. However, I already knew that I very much wanted to quit. My problem was that I kept thinking that I could get away with 'just one' cigarette every weekend or during crisis situations.
Few of us think we are going back to full time smoking when we first slip. Rather, almost all slips and relapses begin with the thought that we can get away with 1 or 2 cigarettes.
So I believe that we need to spend more of our effort fighting the "I can get away with one or two cigarettes now" gremlin, rather than the "to heck with it, lets give up and go back to smoking" gremlin. The gremlin is smarter than to use the latter argument, because it knows that we have our "reasons to quit list", and he senses that we are determined not to go back to "full time smoking". So, to get around that, the gremlin will try the "just one" line of seduction.
Another problem about my reasons - to - quit list, was that most of the benefits to quitting are far out in the future, or vague. Such as "if I don't quit smoking, I might get cancer in 20 years". But I found I can't stop a strong nicotine craving by telling myself what might happen in 20 years or even 3 months. But I found I could stop a nicotine craving cold by telling myself what would happen 10 minutes later after finishing the cigarette -- namely that I would start craving the next cigarette, and that I would be mad at myself and depressed for having given in. And many more such reasons that are on the cards.
Therefore, most of the cards that I used, and that are on the cardsB.html page, are directed towards fighting the 'just one beast' and reminding myself what the consequences of having 'just one' will be 10 minutes or a few days later.
Later on, I made a collection of sayings that I've seen on various message boards, many of them several times. That collection is at cardsC.html
People have commented that "card therapy" sounds complicated. But its no harder than writing a few things down now and then as they come to mind. Here is a simple recipe for applying card therapy:
(a) Before you quit, write out on a card or two some reasons to quit.
(b) After you've quit, write down a few things you need to tell yourself when the urges strike, e.g. "Having a cigarette won't solve any problems", or "Having 'just one' will make me want another even worse a few minutes after I'm done". When struggling, read your cards and write down a few more "things to tell yourself". That's all. No "RET" involved. No books to read.
I participate in a lot of quit-smoking online discussion groups. In almost every posting that I see to one of these groups, people are giving a couple of reasons not to smoke, or saying other things that they need to remind themselves when they are thinking about smoking again. So everyone is doing this naturally anyway. The only thing I am urging, based on my experience, is to carry these reasons and reminders around. I have a copy of the cards at work, at home (in 2 places), and in the car.
Maybe an easier and quicker way to begin is simply to print the three files, cardsA.html, cardsB.html, and cardsC.html. They won't take long to print. Then on the cardsB.html and cardsC.html printout, line out those things that don't apply to you. Highlight those things that grab you. Write your own stuff in the margins. Carry it around. I promise it will help a lot the next times strong cravings hit.
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