One of the main reasons for smoking is because it helps deal with unpleasant emotions or feelings. For example, many people smoke when they are:
- Lonely
- Bored
- Angry
- Depressed
- Anxious
- Nervous
You probably didn’t start out smoking for emotional reasons. But over time, your brain learned that smoking was a great way to relax and unwind. It became a fast and easy way to deal with tension, anxiety, depression and stress. After many years of dealing with your emotions through smoking, cigarettes may have become your number one coping tool.
This is an important point because it’s one of the main reasons why going cold turkey rarely works. With the cold turkey method, you remove your coping tool. But the problem is the emotions are still there and you haven’t learned how to deal with them without smoking. It’s no wonder why the cold turkey method only works 3% of the time!
The most successful quit smoking methods help you develop new coping strategies. With practice, you learn how to deal with life’s emotions without smoking.
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