Quit Smoking Stages

By Author: Amy Hudson
Total Articles: 28
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If you're someone who has struggled to discontinue smoking before and relapsed, or if happen to currently deliberating quitting, it is always an excellent idea to learn the factors involved in discontinuing smoking. It is imperative for you to know exactly what you will experience while struggling against your smoking habit so that you are more ready to manage the various potential situations.

Those who quit smoking usually go through five (5) stages, with each stage having distinctive psychological manifestations. There's an effective means of handling each and every stage to make certain that you proceed into the subsequent step and in due course succeed in defeating your smoking addiction completely.

Stage 1: Pre-Contemplation

Pre-contemplation is the 1st step of the stop smoking process. It is fairly usual for most smokers to try to stop smoking due to peer pressure; i.e. friends, family, and colleagues forcing him or her to discontinue smoking. In point of fact, the smoker doesn't really mean to stop smoking, but is compelled to do so due to external causes. Therefore, the smoker ...
... attempts to quit smoking not because he/she is particularly willing, but because he/she caved in to peer pressure. If the process of smoking cessation begins under these circumstances, the most probable result is that this individual will later relapse and take up the habit again, since the motivation is inappropriate or inadequate.

Stage 2: Contemplation

Contemplation is the next step in the process of smoking cessation. At this point, the decision to stop smoking is clear, but the smoker doesn't mean to quit smoking in the immediate future. The said individual is aware of why he/she should stop smoking, and most possibly agrees with these reasons. Nonetheless, in this stage, said smoker still somehow justifies the habit, with the abstract and remote notion of quitting at some point.

Stage 3: Preparation

The third step in the quit smoking process is preparation, which can be perceived as a preamble to the actual quit smoking process. The smoker has a sincere intention to give up smoking and has in fact taken the first steps to that direction. Mostly, these measures are intended to smoothen the transition, like, for example lowering the number of cigarettes one smokes every day, or alternating to a light/filter brand.

Stage 4: Quitting

The fourth stage among the smoking cessation stages is actually giving up cigarettes. At this stage, the smoker has decided to give up cigarettes and has even taken steps towards achieving this goal. As the smoker quits smoking, he or she has to face withdrawal, refuse to give in to the often strong craving to smoke, and basically adapt to a new life as a non-smoker. The actual quitting stage can last from 6 months to one year.

Final Stage: Post-Quitting Maintenance

The 5th and last smoking cessation stage is known as post quitting maintenance, which usually starts about one year after quitting smoking. During this period, relapsing is entirely possible. Around seventy five percent of people who quit smoking are inclined to resume the habit during the first year of the process. Nevertheless, this does by no means connote that their efforts have gone to waste, since clinical studies show that it takes about three tries to totally kick the habit. Although a relapse is typically deemed a a few steps back, this should not discourage any smoker from attempting to quit smoking once more and, of course, exerting more effort next time.

In general, you should get to know the six stages of the smoking cessation process so that you will be more prepared to manage each particular scenario that you will in all likelihood encounter. Recognizing where you stand in the quit smoking timeline will enable you to assess your progress and motivate yourself further until you in due time kick the habit for good.
To download your copy of the Free Quit Smoking Guide, and to read more articles related to Quit Smoking In Stages, please visit this quit smoking website.