You know you have to quit.  But quitting smoking is harder than quitting heroin, because nicotine added to tobacco has found to be more addictive than most hard drugs.  This is why there have been a lot of paid events from hypnosis workshops to rehabilitation retreats that all tout themselves as the world’s best stop smoking program.  But are there any free stop smoking programs?

Fire Up The Mouse

There are many free stop smoking programs available on the Internet.  Tobacco companies have been ordered by the government to put up websites and make packets of accurate information available to those who decide to no longer use their products.  If you don’t have Internet connections at home, you could try your local library to get online or ask your doctor for help.  They may have a lot of booklets for you based on those free stop smoking programs.

Perhaps you’ve seen television commercials about people who’ve lived under a rock all of their lives and were surprised to discover that cigarettes were addictive and that’s why they were having trouble quitting.  Those commercials are for the free smoking programs on their websites.

What Do They Include?

Basically, all these free stop smoking programs are is a book – either they send you a book or they have it up online for you to read.  It tells you the facts of why you need to quit, all of the frightening things that will happen to your body if you don’t and lists of techniques smokers have used to become smoke-free.  They often include coupons for various anti-smoking products like the nicotine patch, nicotine gum or inhalers.

Perhaps the best part of these kinds of free stop smoking programs is that they often have forums, chat rooms or support groups so you can connect to other people going through the same exact problems that you are.  When you do try to quit, it can often seem as if you are the only person in the world going through your physical struggles.  You may often feel ashamed of yourself and then wonder if quitting is really worth it.

Quitting smoking can produce emotional effects that are almost the same as for those people with clinical depression. You may even start getting suicidal thoughts.  You might not be able to sleep or have incredible troubles concentrating and making decisions.  These can be easily rectified through a course of antidepressants.

Quitting smoking has been turned into an industry, making it a lot more complicated to quit than ever before.  But it really doesn’t need to be.  When your body tells you it’s time to quit, it will do in an extremely frightening manner.  Then, you never touch tobacco products again for the rest of your life.  This is called going cold turkey, and it’s the best stop smoking program you’ll ever find.  One of the advantages of going cold turkey is that it’s a free stop smoking program.

When Cold Turkey Is Best

If no one else in your house smokes, then going cold turkey will be a viable stop smoking program for you.  If you seem to be the only smoker left in your social circle, this is another indication that going cold turkey may be the best plan for you.  When you quit, you don’t need the whiff of tobacco smoke or see another person light up.  That’s just too tempting.

If you are in basic good health – except for smoking – than going cold turkey is a viable stop smoking program.  You will go through massive physical withdraw symptoms, including a headache and pounding heart.  Symptoms of nicotine withdraw are different for each person.  If you have a major health condition or a condition which limits your movements, then talk to your doctor before going cold turkey.  A gradual plan might work best for you.

Keep Busy

When you use cold turkey as your stop smoking program, you need to keep busy.  You need to not only keep your body busy with walking, gardening or household chores, but you need to keep your hands and mouth busy.  Chewing on gum, celery sticks, carrots or even sucking on hard candy can keep your mouth busy.  Arts and crafts can help encourage your hands to be busy.

Know Anyone With Emphysema?

Another thing you can do in your cold turkey stop smoking program is to visit someone with advanced lung conditions such as cancer or emphysema who still smoke.  There’s nothing like watching a patient unhook himself from his oxygen tank, crawl outside, have a smoke and then crawl back inside and hook himself back up to the oxygen tank to inspire you to quit.

When you do manage to stop smoking for at least one month, try not to convert every smoker you see to your stop smoking program.  They will not only take offense, but will do everything they can to get you to smoke just out of spite.