Term Paper on "Quit Smoking"

Home > Topics > Drugs & Alcohol My Account

Term Paper 6 pages (1974 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Quitting Smoking

What obstacles do you anticipate you will encounter while making this behavioral change?

First, I will experience intense cravings. The cravings will be almost unbearable, as I know from my previous experiences with trying to quit and also from hearing about the experiences of others. I might have trouble concentrating. I might become consumed with the desire to smoke. I will feel tired and run-down and will remember how cigarettes can be a good pick-me up. Therefore, my brain will constantly trick me into thinking that quitting is a bad idea. I will hear rationalizing thoughts such as that cigarettes are necessary for stress relief, relief of boredom, or relief of hunger pains. Cravings might also manifest physically: in the form of headaches or general malaise.

Second, I will be bombarded with imagery that reminds me of smoking. Advertisements and seeing other people smoke will be the toughest, but just smelling smoke in the air will remind me of smoking and trigger a craving.

Third, I might start to eat more because of the need for oral gratification. The eating more could lead to weight gain and the weight gain might seem worse than the smoking habit. That will be a difficult obstacle to overcome, especially if I start noticing the extra pounds.

Fourth, I may experience negative feedback from some friends, coworkers, and family members. Some people might tell me that I should just enjoy life and not worry so much about quitting. They will remind me that many people who quit end up with health problems unrelated to smoking and that I might as well enjoy life. They might also mention that

Continue scrolling to

download full paper ⤓

some smokers live to be 100 and so might I. Other people might discourage me by saying that I'll never be able to quit, that so many people try to quit and can't and that why did I think that I was going to succeed? Other people who smoke might be jealous and therefore discourage me from quitting.

Week 2: Review ONE recent research article you did not include in your original search. Your review need to be more than 1-2 paragraphs of this week's journal entry

In " Intentions to quit smoking change over short periods of time," authors Hughes, Keely, Fagerstrom, & Callas studied a sample of 115 American and Swedish smokers. The participants were asked to undergo a similar program I am right now: a Stages of Change (SOC) questionnaire about where they were at mentally in terms of their desire and readiness to quit. The researchers intervened with the smokers either twice during the course of one month (after thirty days); or four times (once per week). The findings show that our motivation levels to change an undesirable behavior fluctuate greatly. It would be interesting to see what life events were causing the different attitudes toward smoking in these participants. Perhaps during increased periods of stress, the individuals felt less like quitting. Perhaps they felt more like quitting when exposed to information about smoking or after a healthy day of hiking. Regardless, I would like to read more about the reasons people fluctuate with their intention or desire to quit smoking so I can apply that information to my life.

The research article also illustrated some potential pitfalls I might notice during the course of my behavioral change program. During the planning phase, which I am in now, I do notice that some days I feel more positive than others. There are days that I either do not feel capable of quitting or simply lose my desire to quit altogether. For example, I still take some pleasure in smoking and feel anxious or negative about the behavioral change. I wonder if I will feel any better after the change and wonder how worthwhile it is. The very next day my attitude might shift so that I am feeling energized and motivated. I would like to keep a more detailed journal of my thoughts and feelings about smoking so that I notice when and why my intentions shift. The journal entries might help me during later stages of change such as during the maintenance phase when I am working more on keeping myself smoke-free.

Week 3: An analysis of how you acquired the undesired behavior and what has fostered it in your life.

A acquired my smoking habit mainly by watching others and emulating them. My friends smoked and some of my family members smoke. I watched people smoke on television shows and movies. Smoking seemed normal, and in many ways too it seemed "cool." The behavior was normalized; so many people smoked as if it were as natural as eating and so I started to believe that and adopt the behavior.

Gradually smoking became an uncontrollable habit. At first I smoked occasionally and believed that I had it under control. After many years it became apparent that it was not a controllable habit and that I was addicted. However, I still reaped pleasure from smoking. I felt good when having a smoke with friends as if it were an excuse to chat and socialize. Smoking helped break up the workday because I had an excuse to go outside. Similarly, going out for a smoke was a good way to get some "fresh air" when going out. Because so many other smokers were congregating and chatting, smoking seemed like a social activity. Smoking also fostered a sense of invincibility in me as I started to believe that I would never be one who would get sick from it. Smoking offered me temporary feelings of well-being, a pick-me-up during a busy day, a way to pass the time while waiting in a long line. Pretty soon it became apparent that smoking was fostering far more negative than positive issues in my life: including fear of illness, difficulty breathing, coughing, and increased social isolation as smoking has grown out of favor with many people and is a banned behavior in many public places. Therefore, smoking has altered my identity, led me into social situations and interactions with people who I might not have known otherwise, and has changed my standards of health. I realize now that I might have missed out on romantic relationships with people who will not date smokers. Realizations like these are impacting my desire to change.

Week 4: How has this change influenced your self-image?

The change from being a smoker to being a non-smoker will boost my self-confidence like nothing else I have done before. If I can quit and stay smoke-free the rest of my life I will feel like I can accomplish anything and therefore the change will have a positive impact on my self-image. Just the fact that I have come this far in developing my plan to quit proves to myself that I am willing and capable of positive change. I already feel better about myself.

My self-image is also changing in deeper ways as a result of visualizing myself as a non-smoker. I have spent so long seeing myself and projecting myself as a smoker that smoking has become part of my identity. Surrendering that identity will take hard work but I am already in a transitional phase that is helping me make that change easier. Progressing through the stages of change, I am coming to see at least the possibility of a new, non-smoking me. Soon, I will embrace that new me so fully that it will seem antithetical to everything I am to pick up a cigarette. At that point I will have become a non-smoker.

In the meantime, the changes are already affecting my self-image. I am smiling more and seem happier. The increased joy I feel is leading to more positive self-image in other areas of my life including work and social life. The boost in self-esteem is leading to my feeling more capable of changing and performing well in other areas of my life. I also believe I will attract new people and situations into my life that better reflect who I am as a non-smoker.

Week 5: How has this behavioral change changed your social interactions?

My social interactions have changed dramatically already, even just be being in the planning and preparation stage of the change. Some of the people who I have told about quitting are also investigating the best methods for them to eliminate smoking from their lives. I have entered into deeper conversations with people I normally might not have: discussion about health, death, and the illness of family members seems to come up a lot when telling acquaintances or total strangers about my decision to quit. We also have philosophical discussions about the nature of habits, addictions, and happiness. I have discussed more meaningful issues with people instead of stuffing my mouth with a cigarette.

With close friends and family members the effects of this change are more significant. People who were normally keeping quiet about how they felt about my addiction to… READ MORE

Download Full Paper

Write a New Paper for Me

Quoted Instructions for "Quit Smoking" Assignment:

“

Each week keep a journal about your heal behavioral change experience.

The journal is an opportunity for you to express and process your personal reactions to this experience.

Your entry should include four components each week: An OBJECTIVE measure of your progress.

Your stage of readiness according to the Transtheoretical and the ratio of pros to cons for your behavior using the forms at:

In addution to writing about your personal experience during the intervention, please respond to the following questions each week:

Week 1: What obstacles do you anticipate you will encounter while making this behavioral change?

Week 2: Review ONE recent research article you did not include in your original search. Your review need to to be more than 1-2 paragraphs of this week'd journal entry

Week 3: An analysis of how you acquired the undesired behavior and what has fostered it in your life.

Week 4: How has this change influenced your self image?

Week 5: How has this behavioral change changed your social interactions?

Week 6: How do you perceive your perfomance during this intervention and int the future how might you modify your intervention to enhance success?

Your jurnal entries shoud be 1 single-spaced page.

Quit smoking is what I want to change.

Please read my proposal below before you start writing!

Research Proposal to Quit Smoking over the Next Eight Weeks

Smoking is one of America*****s largest silent killers behind heart problems. The American people, once glamorized through the thick wall of smoke, are now realizing how serious the complications related to smoking actually are. The 2005 National Health Survey (NHIS, 2005), reported staggering numbers of Americans, 29.5 million males and 20.7 million females, were smoking and thus considered themselves as smokers. Having been a smoker for a decade now, I see the need to drop the habit in hopes of preventing serious disease and pain in my future years. I no longer have much of a decision in the act of quitting, it*****s either I quit, or I give myself a death sentence. With that in mind, I am proposing to change my dangerous habit, and over the course of the next eight weeks completely eliminate smoking from my daily life.

Quitting smoking is much more difficult than most might imagine. Of the thousands of people who try to quit each year, only a few remain successful in their fight against nicotine. Most smokers quit for a period of time, only to regain their habit after a brief separation. In fact, it is the first few months which prove the most critical, *****Most patients relapse within the first six to 12 months of a smoking cessation attempt,***** (Mallin, 2002). Through other people*****s failures, physicians have also discovered that quitting without any plan of action leads to an even higher percentage rate of ex-smokers succumbing to their old habits. An overwhelming 95% of smokers who quit without implementing any sort of program to assist in their endeavors, actually stay smoke free, (Reynolds, 2002). These drastic figures attest to the importance of formulating a plan unique to one*****s position as the most efficient way to quit smoking. More important to creating that plan, is the eventual follow through.

The adverse health affects are a justifiable reason to quit smoking. An astounding 90% of lung cancer is directly associated with long term smoking, (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008). Other adverse health risks include cardiovascular disease, and other respiratory diseases. These haunting reminders of the adverse affects of smoking only increase as the user smokes for a longer period of time. Both lung and heart disease rates for smokers explode as smokers continue smoking throughout their lives. The risks just get higher as the years continue to pile up, *****If you smoke for a lifetime, there is a 50% chance that your eventual death will be smoking-related - half of all these deaths will be in middle age,***** (BBC News 2003).

I am now almost thirty years of age, and have been smoking for at least ten years. As I have continued to smoke over the years, I have added to my risk of being forced to endure the harmful affects related to cigarettes. Rather than continuing such a harmful habit, I have decided to change my behavior and lifestyle and so erase nicotine and tobacco from my life. I now realizing through assessing my need for change, (DiClemente, 1991) that I don*****t have much of a choice if I want to prevent myself becoming one of those terrifying statistics. I have found myself in the passing through the contemplation stage and now in the preparation phase of my desired change, (Mallin 2003). I no longer believe that the affects of smoking are overrated or that they will never extend to disrupt my life, which is associated with the precontemplation stage.

Research has shown than quitting without treatment usually has grim hopes of success. Quitting cold turkey will most likely just delay my cigarette smoking rather than abolishing it. Therefore, I need a strategic plan of action as a way to fully ensure my success in the attempt to kick the butt. Consulting with a physician alone can improve the chance to remain smoke free, (Mallin, 2002). Therefore I have decided to follow researcher*****s advice and blend a combination of life style choices and proper medical care as a road to success.

Robert Mallin, in his 2002 work *****Smoking Cessation: Integration of Behavioral and Drug Therapies,***** expresses the importance of implementing a blended strategy. This change needs to be a conscious choice, but heavily backed up by medical help. Therefore, I will plan to implement a strategy in several steps with aid from a physician if the need for such help arises. Without either of the two, my endeavor would most likely end in failure.

The first crucial step is thorough preparation for the drastic life style change which is about to take place. The first step is planning a pre-determined date in the near future to quit, which I have chosen to be March 1, 2008. Now, I must attend to other preparation necessities, such as involving family and friends. Several studies have shown that with the support of loved ones, smokers are less inclined to cheat in their attempt to quit. Therefore, I have begun telling friends and family members that I plan to quit, and that I will be my attempt on March 1st of this year. Now that the idea has begun to saturate in my mind, I have to begin the task of removing objects which either remind me or encourage me to smoke. I have to rid my environment slowly of lighters, ash trays, matches, empty cigarette cartons, and any cellophane. All these items, even if encountered randomly might trigger an urge to smoke; therefore I need to try and remove as much as possible to lower the risk of encountering an object which might trigger a craving. Along with removing objects, I must slowly recognize what images, sounds, or smells remind me of smoking. Identifying these occurrences now may help prevent the risk of temptation and relapse when encountered later.

The next stage is moving out of preparation and entering into action. On February 29, 2008 I will smoke my last cigarette. It is truly my luck that this year is a leap year, and I get one extra day of February to enjoy smoking before my quit date. During this stage, support is key so I will rely on my family and friends to keep me going. If my cravings get too bad, I plan to visit support groups for further encouragement, and will resort to nicotine replacement drugs as prescribed through a physician if absolutely necessary. Hopefully, this will not be the case and I will be able to quit without the use of further medication. During this time period, I also plan to switch my smoking with a healthier substitute, (Mallin, 2003). I am planning on running in the mornings when I know I will crave the most as a deterrent for a cigarette. Running will give me an adrenaline rush and prevent laziness after not waking up with the first cigarette of the day, which normally wakes me up.

Using preparation, support, and replacement, I believe that I will be successful in my attempt to quit smoking. This research paper will document my endeavor through the preparation stage into the action stage. By adhering strictly to my plan and relying on support from outside in my network of family and friends, I hope to ensure myself success.

References

BBC News. *****Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease,

says the World Health Organization.***** http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/473673.stm. 2003.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. *****Health Affects of Cigarette Smoking.*****

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/health_effects.htm. 2008.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. *****Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality,

Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs --- United States, 1995*****”1999.***** Morbidity and mortality Weekly Report. April 2002.

DiClemente, C.C., Prochaska, J.O., Fairhurst, S., Velicer, W.F., Rossi J.S., & Velasquez,

M. (1991). The process of smoking cessation: An analysis of precontemplation, contemplation and contemplation/action. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 295-304. Cancer Prevention research Center. http://www.uri.edu/research/cprc/Measures/Smoking11.htm.

Mallin, Robert. *****Smoking Cessation: Integration of Behavioral and Drug Therapies.*****

American Academy of Family Physicians. http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020315/1107.html. 2002.

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). National Center for Health Statistics. 2005.

www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4559.

Reynolds, Patrick. PRI & The Foundation For a Smokefree America.

www.tobaccofree.org. 2002.

Smokefree.gov (http://www.smokefree.gov ). 2008.

How to Reference "Quit Smoking" Term Paper in a Bibliography

“Quit Smoking.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2008, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.

Quit Smoking (2008). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459

A1-TermPaper.com. (2008). Quit Smoking. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459 [Accessed 5 Oct, 2024].

”Quit Smoking” 2008. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459.

”Quit Smoking” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459.

[1] ”Quit Smoking”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459. [Accessed: 5-Oct-2024].

1. Quit Smoking [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2008 [cited 5 October 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459

1. Quit Smoking. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/quitting-smoking-obstacles/508459. Published 2008. Accessed October 5, 2024.

Related Term Papers: