Quitting smoking

Making the Decision to Quit

Making the decision to quit is an important life changing decision for anybody. Quitting smoking involves changing any existing beliefs that you may have about smoking and accepting information about the health effects of smoking.

As a smoker you may feel that although there are many advantages to quitting there are also several disadvantages. In order to make the decision to quit the disadvantages must outweigh the advantages. By making the decision to quit:

• Your health will improve and you will have more energy to keep up with your kids.
• You reduce the risk of developing asthma, cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
• You will have more money. If you used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day you will save around $2 550 in a year.

Once you have made the decision to quit there are several stages involved in the journey from being a smoker to a non-smoker. Once you are aware that a problem exists and are seriously considering quitting you may remain in this stage for a long period of time. It could take a while before you are ready to start changing your environment and your behaviour to become a non-smoker.

Before attempting to quit smoking it would be a good idea to think about the times and situations that you are most likely to be tempted to have a cigarette and work out a plan of how you can avoid these situations.

There are many immediate health benefits of giving up smoking and once you have made the decision to quit it is a good idea to call the Quitline on 131 848 and ask for your own Quit Kit or visit www.quitwa.com. Reading the quit resources can be the first step in making the decision to become a non smoker.

Once you have made the decision to quit choose an approach that will work for you.