Paul Grant, of Gladstone Psychology Services, said the body went through unpleasant changes when a regular smoker quits, but the mind games could be worse. "It is the psychological factors which are often most difficult for people," he said. Mr Grant said the changes to the body took place in the first few hours or days, but the long-lasting changes in mood, behaviour and thinking were mostly driven by psychological factors. When a smoker tries to quit, the mind needs to break a pattern. "For a regular smoker, smoking is a strongly learnt habit which they reinforce regularly," Mr Grant said. "Changing any strongly learnt behaviour is difficult. "If you associate smoking with feeling relaxed, stopping smoking may make it difficult to feel relaxed, resulting in higher levels of tension and anxiety. "Often, smokers associate smoking with activities they value, such as talking with friends or putting their feet up at the end of a long work day. "These activities can trigger strong cigarette cravings in those who are trying to quit, especially in the first couple of weeks. "Eventually, the link between these activities and smoking will be broken and these activities will not trigger cravings to the same extent they did early on."
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 08:35:08 +0000
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