(this is the last part following part 1 “Sorting Cravings And Emotional Triggers” and part 2 “Triggering“)

Here, we have to ask ourselves if it really does last longer. The physical urge is sent out and you respond, either by signaling your body to “wait, coffee break is due in an hour” or by telling it flat out that “no way, Jose. I don’t do that any more.” If we play the compromise game, then we are not effectively dealing with the issue at hand.

If, as a few think, the craving lasts a lot longer, they have to look closely at the role smoking plays in their lives. We are all different, and for some smokers, a cigarette was the primary means they used to deal with difficult emotions. You have to ask yourself if the cigarette was primarily used to deal with emotional situations, and how much of a role it played in that. When fear, worry, anxiety, doubt or guilt, disappointment, etc., surge in you, is your way of handling it to smoke like crazy ? Remember in the first paragraph that time you had an urge and could not smoke? Was your reaction to become tense, more impatient, and maybe even angry until you could have one? If so, your cigarette may be a crutch to deal with emotions.

Some people are surprised to learn that about themselves. They’ve never considered whether they smoke as a matter of routine or as a means of palliating certain difficult emotions, even boredom. When was the last time you did not smoke for several hours on end? Were there times that you worked so hard that you never had a cigarette or even thought of it for several hours? On what was your brain focusing on at the time? Do you ever remember a time when you had so much fun that you didn’t even think about lighting up a cigarette?

One quitter recently told me that when she realized that she was lighting up instead of facing her emotions, the cravings stopped. She explains it this way: What she had done was to program her brain to alert her whenever she would be about to feel a strong emotion. At that time of her life, she would chain-smoke, at least one packet of cigarettes per day. She stopped smoking, but the cravings continued and were bad to deal with. She felt depressed and felt that her emotions were heightened. Each craving increased her stress level. She slipped several times, but kept at it. She began to read up on anxiety and the various things she felt, and gradually learned of other ways to deal with those emotions. Although her process is ongoing, she claims that she never gets strong urges any more. She claims that when an image of a cigarette does pops into her mind, she knows it’s time to deal with the particular emotion she’s feeling. She decided to seek counseling to help her cope better with certain ones such as anger and depression, and she has been smoke-free for a year.

Read all you can about physical and emotional dependency and determine how much of each you have.

I hope this article has been of some help to you and all the best with quitting smoking.