Want to improve the page's content? Try to propose a change.
**Rebecca started smoking menthol cigarettes at 16. All of her family members
smoked, and once she started, she was hooked.** She kept smoking into
adulthood, tried to stop, and found she could not.
At 33 she was diagnosed with depression.
The loop
**She smoked frequently when she felt depressed, because she thought smoking
might help her cope.** She felt ashamed when she smoked — so **when she
tried to quit and couldn't, she felt even more depressed.**
"That was just a vicious, vicious cycle."
Every part of that is load-bearing. The smoking is a response to the
depression. The shame is a response to the smoking. The failed attempt deepens
the depression, which produces more smoking. Nothing in the loop is a failure
of willpower, and advice aimed at willpower feeds it.
How she broke it
**To break the cycle, Rebecca knew she had to get care for her depression
and quit smoking for good.**
Both, together. Treating the depression alone leaves the habit; quitting alone
removes what she was using to cope with an untreated illness.
That is the practical lesson in her story, and it is the opposite of how
smoking cessation is usually offered — as a single behaviour to be changed on
its own.
She also lost teeth to gum disease, which smoking can cause, and that
strengthened her resolve.
Rebecca finally quit, and feels better — mentally and physically.
"It's about taking control and knowing where you want to be in your life."
Free help to quit
1-800-QUIT-NOW · 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (Español) · 1-800-838-8917 (中文)
· 1-800-556-5564 (한국어) · 1-800-778-8440 (Tiếng Việt)
Text QUITNOW to 333888, or the quitSTART app. On the web: CDC's Quit
Smoking pages, Smokefree.gov, and the Asian Smokers' Quitline.
*Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tips From Former
Smokers®.*
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
1
0
0
0
Comments
Read next
