Don't despair if you don't manage to quit smoking at your first attempt, for you're dealing with an addiction rather than just a bad habit.

Experts at the University of Michigan are offering some positive tips to those wanting to give up smoking for good. One approach is to fix a date for quitting and mark it on your calendar. Make it around a time when there'll be pleasurable activities to distract you - like a holiday or birthday. Then start to prepare for your quit date.

Get some professional help arranged, in the form of medication and/or counselling. And ask a close friend or family member to be your personal support. Obviously it's vital to stop buying cigarettes and it can also be helpful to purge your home of smoke - the odor can start off a craving. And once you do quit, don't put too much pressure on yourself - it's normal to feel tired, irritable and perhaps headachey for a while as your body withdraws from nicotine. And if you can't give up the first time, don't give up on quitting. Most people don't make it first time round but if they try again as soon as possible they do eventually beat their addiction.

Source

University of Michigan 31st October 2002