Web Desk: The No Smoking Day is observed every year on the second Wednesday of March to raise awareness about the harmful health effects of tobacco via smoking and to encourage people all over the world to quit smoking.
The best way you can celebrate No Smoking Day if you are a smoker is to take the opportunity to choose to quit.
It may not be easy, but it is clearly worth it as you will improve your health within hours and days of stopping.
Each year, the campaign is promoted with a theme in the form of a short phrase. In 2010, this theme was “Break free”, encouraging smokers to break free from the chains of cigarettes and quit on No Smoking Day. The 2011 theme was “Time to quit?”. Research conducted by GfK NOP following the 2009 campaign found that 1 in 10 smokers quit on No Smoking Day.
No Smoking Day’s most recent President was entrepreneur, TV personality, and anti-tobacco campaigner Duncan Bannatyne OBE. Bannatyne is an ex-smoker who publicly took on British American Tobacco at its AGM in April 2008.
Smoking is injurious and hazardous to health. From oral cavity to gastrointestinal and urinary tract, it is responsible for various types of cancer. The addiction to smoking is caused by the release of dopamine in the brain by nicotine when one inhales cigarette smoke.
Various methods have been described to quit smoking, but all fail because people start smoking again after a gap of a few months or years. Hence, it is difficult to sustain abstinence from smoking.
British author Allen Carr has devised a beautiful and most effective way of helping the patient to sustain abstinence from smoking. Some of the tips advised are as follows:
The Will, The Belief And The Way
1. The will
The decision to quit smoking. The most significant step in the way to quit smoking is the self-decision of the patient to quit smoking
2. Belief matters
The second and the next important step is to believe, visualise and know that you can quit smoking yourself. Once you have decided to quit smoking, it’s time for action.
3. The way
Initiation of action
Step-By-Step Guide To Kick The Butt:
A. Set a target date
Decide the last date of smoking, and beyond this date to be determined not to touch even a single cigarette.
Gradual reduction of cigarettes from a packet to few and from few to none never works.
B. Reinforce happy thoughts
Rejoice over the fact that you decided to quit smoking and behave as if you already quit smoking.
Do not brag about your smoking habits or try to remember the smoking days.
C. Remember the diseases
Constantly remind yourself of the diseases caused due to smoking, and try to visualise those diseases. This will create hatred and negative energy towards smoking.
D. Standing in the trial of craving
Typically, cravings are associated with the time, and the activity of smoking during the routine. So when the time comes, divert your attention and get involved in some activity which takes away the focus from smoking.
