It is more fun to be a smoker. This is a widespread myth, which is now being busted by British scientists. In a survey among 879 ex-smokers, approximately 70 per cent answered that they were happier and more satisfied after they have quit smoking. Many smokers do not want to stop smoking, because they think they will miss something life. Have they first come through the first difficult time as a non smoker, it does not seem that life without tobacco is neither worse nor more sad than life as a smoker. On the contrary, a study shows, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research. It is hard to find ex smokers who regrets that they have stopped smoking. What matters is to get through the first hard time with withdrawal symptoms.

Out of the 879 ex-smokers, who took part in the survey, almost 70% felt that they were happier after they had quit smoking. Less than 4% were less happy and about 26% felt no change in their mood.

The results of the study fits with my experience: It is hard to find ex-smokers who regretted that they quit. It is rather easy to find smokers who regretted that they started in the first place.

It is a widespread myth, that if you quit smoking you will lose some life quality in return of a prolonged life. But for those smokers that fight through the withdrawal symptoms, the reward is actually two fold: sure, their life is prolonged, but they also feel free of dependence, feel more confident, have a lot more energy and receives recognition from their surrounding for their accomplishment. Ex-smokers are winners.

Focus on life quality rather than health

When trying to motivate people to quit smoking, focusing on the health benefits is far more efficient that pointing fingers and trying to scare people to quit.

Instead, we are developing new methods in which we dont to focus on diseases and health, but rather on the improved life quality, which freedom from smoke brings. The methods were developed from experiments with advice on smoking cessation for cancer patients. They were excited, partly because they felt that with a smoking cessation they themselves made a difference. Rather than being part of the problem, they were now part of the solution instead.

Better in time

The increased satisfaction is more pronounced, the longer the time that has passed since they stopped smoking. But even with ex-smokers, where the smoking stop was quite new, it was still the majority who feel happier now. Younger ex-smokers was more excited after their cessation than older people. However it did not matter whether they were heavy smokers or only smoked a few cigarettes a day.

Quitting smoking is difficult, but Ingolf Ymer provides lots of tips on how to quit smoking – go to his website and download the free ebook: Quit Smoking Now.

Tweet This Post