Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rock]

Advertisements are on cigarrette paks showing bloody, cancerous eaten lungs, pregnant women and mothers and children covering their faces. I don't dispute such effects due to smoking. The problem is this.

I'd quit for a year+ but relapsed. I smoke about 3 paks on drinking days, a pak otherwise. Second-hand smoke doesn't rile you as much in Taiwan as it does in Korea. They're more health-conscious about it here.

I can't quit right now, though. Has anyone had such experiences, and succeeded in quitting?

Thing is, I've worked out, can swim 30 laps+ in a 50m pool, jog 2.5mls and lift weights. Not bragging. Just wonder, how can I overcome this habit for good?

Perhaps I'll have to get euthanized.

[D.D.]

Cold Turkey- If you don't have one you can't have two. Get away from your smoking and drinking buddies or else you have a slim chance.

Learn meditation so you can get the emotions out that you are covering up with your smokes.

[BS.Dos.]

I've given up thinking about giving up for as long as I'm in Korea. I'll be out of this place in August and will be attempting to quit for good then. What with my handler always pestering me to go and have a sneaky smoke with him and given that the only time I meet up with other foreigners is in our local smoke-filled bar, I've decided to patch up during the week and to try and minimize rather than try and quit for good. I think the odds are just stacked to heavily against you out here.

[hauwande]

hi. im an ex-smoker. i used to really enjoy smoking and still quite like the smell. i found it very relaxing.

but ive quit now and have a lot more energy.
i feel much better on a moment to monent basis that i used to.
i dont smell
i save money
i dont have to carry lots of shit in my pockets
i dont have to think about rushing between classes for a smoke.

but the only thing that matters for you is this:

if you ain't ready to stop, you just ain't ready...

relax and enjoy your smoking...

[Mint]

Smoking isn't one problem, it's two.

Think of it like "Master Blaster" from Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome.

There's this little jerk who eats at your nervous system every so often. A weakling, you've beat him every time you go a few days without one.

Problem is, he incites the big oaf to constantly whisper sweet intoxicating nothings in your ear. This is the mutha you've got to drop: the thing in your head that says smoking actually makes you feel better. It's all the brainwashing, habits and other psychic junk you've accumulated while smoking. You have to do this for yourself, but here are a few tips:

-smoking doesn't relax you, it only scratches the itch left by the last one

-try taking a nice long relaxing bath or shower. After an hour I bet you wished you could smoke amongst the warm water. When was the last time you were truly able to fully and completely relax?

works cited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hQC3nkftrk

[Forward Observer]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/1012536/Allen-Carr-Easy-Way-to-Stop-Smoking

[withington]

I quit last July. Just accept that you will be extremely uncomfortable for a week, very uncomfortable for a month, uncomfortable for another month and after that it starts to be pretty easy. It's also in this relatively easy period that you'll think it's okay to have one. I say go ahead and have one. Once. Only to realize how bad it tastes now that your system is all cleaned out. And then never again because you will start up if you do. That's what happened to me the first time I quit for a serious amount of time. Also take comfort in that the cravings do get less frequent, with mathematical-like consistency. Every week the frequency got less. Nowadays I never think about it.

I know this goes against everything people say, and for most people maybe this isn't good advice, but I found that drinking helped me. People say, "but doesn't that make you want to smoke?" Well, I already desperately wanted to smoke. At least when I was drunk I could be mentally distracted and relaxed a little bit. And when hungover, I never want to smoke at all. So that first week of major discomfort? Get wasted. Try to do it on an unimportant week, work-wise. Maybe do it at home alone away from smoking drinking buddies. Of course, you have to be careful not to replace your psychological addiction to smoking with that of drinking, but if you do, it's a lot more interesting to be a drunk than a smoker. At least you stand to earn sex and funny stories. Have something to show for your destroyed health!

[Milkman Dan]

Since you managed to quit for over a year, you obviously have the strength to get through the physical aspect of the addiction (e.g. Nicotine). So that means the issue you have is strictly mental, so you should look at the motivations and habits you associate with smoking.

I'm at a little over 2 years smoke-free now. I could never get through the hellish first week of getting the nicotine out of my system, so I used the patch for about a month and a half to get me through that. But while I used the patch, I realized that the physical addiction is actually the easiest part of quitting - It's one week of pure hell, but thats it. Everything after that is the real challenge.

You have to change your habitual behaviors and thought patterns to really succeed. I had to quit drinking for about 3 months because I associated the two together so much. I tried to maintain the most obnoxiously positive adittude possible because I was afraid any negative event would trigger a relapse.

[losing_touch]

I just read Allen Carr's book in two days. Today is the day!

[poet13]

I quit almost two years ago too. I have never had the urge since. The most important part I think was the change in thinking.
I am not a smoker. I don't smoke. I'm not an ex-smoker, a recovering smoker, or a quitter. I don't smoke. I think by describing oneself as someone who smoked previously, it sets up a conflict that is very difficult to beat.

[eamo]

[poet13]

I think there is a slight difference in our approaches. I don't deny to myself or to anyone (except maybe an insurance agent) that I was a smoker. I am so glad that I quit and I remind myself every day that I am buying myself more time with my family.

I also made some other changes (at least temporarily) in my life. My schedule, routines, habits. For a week or so after day one I got up at 3 in the morning, rode my bike, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned my apartment. I also fasted for a week or so. Everything in my life for a week was topsy turvy. I had no withdrawal then or since.

[eamo]

Well, yeah, I'm not actually going around thinking that I've never smoked!! I'd be a highly paid hypnotist if I could do that!!

I'm just seeing myself as a non-smoker. Any strange feelings I have (related to withdrawal symptoms) is just a cold or something. I'm just thinking along those lines......not really believing it!!

It really seems to be helping though..............

[tzechuk]

[English Matt]

Allen Carr is definitely the way to go. I quit twice using his book

But seriously, the first time I stopped, I was quit for a year. Then I made the mistake of having just one cigarette after I moved to Canada...that's the most important thing to remember; quitting is easy so long as you remember there is no such thing as just one cigarette. It'll snowball into an addiction again.

The second time I quit was a few weeks ago here in Korea, again after reading the book. And if you can quit in Korea, you can quit anywhere IMHO.

The most important thing to remember when stopping smoking is never smoke a cigarette.