Quit smoking: Gradually or Cold Turkey?
Quitting smoking is a tough decision and requires determination and perseverance. There have been discussions on whether it’s more effective to start right away or to gradually decrease the amount of cigarettes per day, working your way down to none. The first approach is called “cold turkey,” and it means that you virtually do not light up a single cigarette from the moment you take the decision. It works best for people with milder nicotine addiction. Gradual cessation is medically easier for addicts with many years of smoking. It is more feasible that one quits, if they are used to finishing a couple of packs a day, by first reducing them. Also, those who failed to succeed using the “cold turkey,” usually opt for the gradual method at their next attempt.
The gradual approach is a trick you do to yourself, trying to deceive yourself that your lifestyle is not changed, and your smoking habits are the same that your body has been used to for a while. If you are smoking, say, 30-40 cigarettes a day, you could start by taking out that one-two cigarettes you light out of reflex, those you do not really remember why you pulled out from the box. Continuing to smoke the 28-38 cigarettes for a while will tell your body this is the same amount of nicotine you took up before.
With this tactics, one can become smoke-free in nine months without making his body suffer abrupt nicotine hunger. The smoker might decide to cut back on the amount of cigarettes at a faster rate, but this is risky and might trigger the negative effects of quitting since the body will not be adjusting properly to the decrease in nicotine intake.
The “cold turkey” method has certain indisputable upsides, not the least of which is money saving. Also, you instantaneously stop damaging you lungs. Yet, it is very dangerous to put your nerves through this amount of stress, which automatically translates into health problems and probably the worst cravings for a smoke one can experience. This approach could even lead to a depression and, eventually, failure to surrender smoking.