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Making the decision to quit smoking
The decision to quit tobacco use is one that only you can make. Others may want you to quit, but the real commitment must come from you.
Researchers have looked into how and why people stop tobacco use. They have some ideas, or models, of how this happens.
The Health Belief Model says you will be more likely to stop tobacco use if you:
* believe that you could get a tobacco-related disease and this worries you
* believe that you can make an honest attempt at quitting
* believe that the benefits of quitting outweigh the benefits of continuing tobacco use
* know of someone who has had health problems as a result of their tobacco use
Do any of these apply to you?
The Stages of Change Model identifies the stages that a person goes through when making a change in his or her behavior. Here are the stages as they apply to quitting tobacco use:
* Pre-contemplation: At this stage, the tobacco user is not thinking seriously about quitting right now.
* Contemplation: The tobacco user is actively thinking about quitting but is not quite ready to make a serious attempt yet. This person may say, "Yes, I’m ready to quit, but the stress at work is too much, or I don’t want to gain weight, or I’m not sure if I can do it."
* Preparation: Tobacco users in the preparation stage seriously intend to quit in the next month and often have tried to quit in the past 12 months. They usually have a plan.
* Action: This is the first 6 months when the user is actively quitting.
* Maintenance: This is the period of 6 months to 5 years after quitting when the ex-user is aware of the danger of relapse and take steps to avoid it.
About the author:
http://www.cancer.org
More health information - More smoking information
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