Conquering smoking cravings & triggers
Nicotine is addictive, no doubt about it.
When you smoke, nicotine activates areas in your brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward. This effect wears off shortly after you are done smoking a cigarette, making you crave another. When you quit smoking, even with prescription medication and nicotine replacement therapy, you will experience cravings.
A trigger is a situation or circumstance that heightens your desire to smoke. Common triggers include social situations, having a large meal, driving, stress and boredom. The main difference between cravings and triggers is that the cravings are physical and are a result of withdrawal from nicotine that will go away after a few days to a couple weeks. Triggers are psychological and can take much longer to beat because they stimulate your brain's desire for a cigarette.
Identify your cravings and triggers. As part of your quit plan, make a list of the times and places when you reach for a cigarette. For example, do you smoke first thing in the morning, after meals and when you are with other smokers?
Make an alternative plan before the cravings or triggers occur. After you make a list of your reasons to smoke, the next step is to consider ways of conquering them and list those as well. These could include reviewing the reasons you want to be smoke free, practicing controlled breathing, brushing your teeth, munching on something crunchy like celery or carrot sticks, etc.
Here are some examples of common psychological triggers and alternative actions you can take once you decide to quit smoking.
Trigger: friends who smoke
Tell your friends and family one-on-one about your goal to quit and ask them to help you by not smoking around you.
Trigger: a hot cup of coffee
If you normally have a cigarette with your coffee, drink your coffee in a different room or change the trigger by switching to ice coffee or ice tea.
Trigger: while you are driving
Use NRT before you start to drive, or use deep breathing techniques to reduce your stress.
Remember that just one puff will intensify the craving and that cravings usually only last about 10 minutes. You've come this far and you can get through another 10 minutes!
Updated on September 9, 2019
Sources:
American Cancer Society How to Quit Smoking or Smokeless Tobacco https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/guidetoquittingsmoking/guide-to-quitting-smoking-why-so-hard-to-quit. Retrieved 6/21/2019
SmokeFree.gov. Challenges When Quitting/Cravings & Triggers/Know Your Triggers https://smokefree.gov/challenges-when-quitting/cravings-triggers/know-your-triggers Retrieved 6/21/2019