Gaining the confidence to quit smoking

It’s no secret that giving up smoking is not an easy task, and it can be hard to feel confident in your ability to quit when perhaps you have tried to quit before or you have wanted to quit for a while. Confidence is something which builds with time, and the further you progress along your journey to becoming smoke free, the more confident you will feel in your ability to give up smoking entirely.

Rate your confidence

It might help you to start thinking about situations where you would feel more confident or less confident about cutting out the cigarette. Trying rating your confidence in your ability to stop smoking in all the below situations, with 1 being not confident and 10 being very confident;

• When you feel bored:
• When you are with other smokers:
• When you feel stressed:
• While you are watching TV:
• After a meal or snack:
• When someone offers you a cigarette:
• When you are drinking alcohol:
• If you feel self-conscious in public:
• When having a cup of tea or coffee:
• First thing in the morning:
• Last thing at night:
• When you are travelling (train, bus, car, walking etc.):
• During work:

Once you have rated your confidence, from 1 to 10, on how confident you feel about giving up a cigarette in each specific situation, you can start to evaluate where you will be able to begin cutting down on smoking. For example, if you feel more confident that you can cut out smoking while watching TV, that is the place to start, then you can work on the other areas once you have tackled that one. This technique will mean that you still get to smoke, but you will slowly build confidence in yourself as you cut out cigarettes in certain situation.

Smoking and mental health

The difficulty with finding the confidence to stop smoking is that smoking is a confidence killer in itself. Smokers often feel that they need to smoke in order to reduce their stress and anxiety, but it is often their addiction to nicotine which is making them feel stressed and anxious. Smoking cigarettes interferes with chemicals in the brain, so nicotine withdrawal causes a smoker to feel irritable and anxious. Smoking a cigarette will temporarily ease those feelings, but rest assured they will be back!

Smoking and mental health go hand in hand, and research shows that cutting out smoking can be as beneficial in reducing depression as antidepressant medication. Quitting smoking really does help to relieve stress anxiety and depression, which could be the reasons why you are lacking the confidence to stop in the first place. If you need a little boost to help you gain than confidence, contact our friendly team today who are there to help you along the journey to be smoke free.

We’re here to help! Get in touch with a member of our team today and discuss what we can do to support you.