It can be incredibly difficult to quit smoking, especially if you’ve been doing it for years and smoke a certain amount each day. But with a new year just around the corner, there’s no better time than right now to start thinking about how to go about quitting, so that when January 1st does arrive you’re ready and have given yourself the best shot at achieving your goal.
A lot of people use vape pens and ecigarettes to help them quit and there’s no denying that many find them incredibly useful to help wean themselves off actual cigarettes. You might have been reading some stories in the news of late, however, about people in the US dying of vaping-related illnesses, which could be putting you off using vape pens as a quitting aid.
According to the Independent, there are now over 500 cases under investigation amid growing concerns over a lung disease that is afflicting those who use electronic cigarettes. In Kansas, for example, there have been nine reported cases of vaping-related illnesses, including the death of a woman in her 50s earlier in September.
Health organisations in the UK have issued reassurances to vapers if they are worried about what’s happening in the US.
Head of tobacco control at Public Health England Martin Dockrell said: “Unlike the US, all e-cigarette products in the UK are tightly regulated for quality and safety by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and they operate the Yellow Card Scheme, encouraging vapers to report any bad experiences.”
Regardless, if you want to quit and this news has made you think twice about using ecigarettes to help you do it, you’ll be pleased to hear that you still have plenty of options and don’t have to go it alone.
You could, for example, sign yourself up to Hold My Light, which allows your friends to make pledges to help you to quit. So someone could offer to cook you dinner every Friday night if you make it a month without smoking.
Or you could talk to Wimbledon stop smoking experts The Mindful Therapist. We offer a bespoke treatment programme designed to help transform you into a healthy, happy non-smoker. It combines hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioural techniques and hypnosis, with free booster sessions up to eight weeks after your initial consultation.
Stopping smoking is hard but wanting to do it is half the battle, so if you’ve had it on your mind in recent weeks and months, you’re putting yourself in a good position to really achieve it in the near future. Try different ways of quitting to find out what works for you and what doesn’t, but if you’d like to find out more about our courses of treatment, get in touch with us today.