TeenHelp - Quitting Smoking

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Quitting Smoking

Hey everyone,

Currently I'm working on quitting smoking cigarettes. After my boyfriend's dad came to live with us and watching his health issues caused by cigarettes, as well as wanting to have a baby have helped give me some good reasons to quit.
Somehow my quitting has made me see a few things. For one, at the times of my life I felt like I had no support, I had so much through everyone here. And I feel like I selfishly lost contact with everyone once my life started changing so much. While my friends now try to be helpful and I love them, they really have no idea how to help most of the time.
Second, I think when I quit self harming regularly I substituted smoking in some way. When I want a cigarette, if I self harm, the urge completely goes away.

I guess I'm just looking for suggestions, or just someone to listen. Thanks!

Re: Quitting Smoking

Hey,

I can relate to feeling like you don't have support and realizing that TeenHelp offered the support. I think I've gone through that in the past. I've been seeing you come one a bit more so maybe logging on and making new connections (or connecting with older users) could help in some way? I know that when I stopped self harm I started utilizing TeenHelp even more. I would blog and utilize chat to distract myself. I know the chat gets busy sometimes so gaining support from old and new members might help.

It is very common to substitute one addiction with another. I think that is one of the reasons why being clean from addictions can be difficult. I am sure you probably know this but I figured I would mention it in case you didn't. :) One thing that might help is finding a healthier thing to do more often. If you find something healthy that you can do when you are having urges to harm yourself or smoke it might help. For example, I read a lot during periods when I am anxious and feeling intense urges to self harm. Reading keeps me calm and gives me something else to focus on. You can try and choose other things but there are healthier things to substitute addiction with; things that aren't truly addictive but can be a distraction. We've updated our Alternatives and Coping Methods and it might help to look at that to get an idea of what you could utilize.

If you ever want to chat you can feel free to PM me. I tend to be available through the chat system a lot too.

Best regards. :)

Re: Quitting Smoking

It may seem strange, but Alan Carr's books really help a lot. Maybe you should read it?

Re: Quitting Smoking

This is a strong decision, as well as a test of your willpower.