When you quit smoking, cravings can feel like a real trap. They often become a major obstacle for those trying to stop smoking, causing many to relapse each year. But what exactly is this phenomenon? What causes it, and how can you overcome it?
LaserOstop provides effective strategies to tackle these intense urges, helping you break free from cigarettes for good.
What is craving?
Understanding the definition of craving
The word “craving” comes from the English verb “to crave,” which means a strong desire or urge to have something. In the case of smoking, “craving” refers to an intense and often irresistible urge to smoke. It’s that moment when you might find yourself searching every corner of your house for even half a cigarette. It’s also what pushes some smokers to drive several kilometres on a Sunday just to find a shop selling cigarettes.
As you can see, these overwhelming urges are not easy to resist.
A significant risk factor for relapse
The craving to smoke is a common aspect of all addictions and represents not only a significant challenge but also a frequent cause of relapse for those striving to quit. Unfortunately, this craving does not disappear immediately after stopping the use of harmful substances. It can persist for quite a long time, affecting both smokers and former smokers, even if they do not identify it as such.
For habitual smokers, the solution is simple: they light a cigarette, and the craving subsides. However, when undertaking a smoking cessation journey, managing these cravings becomes considerably more complex.
The mechanisms behind smoking cravings
Nicotine is a psychoactive substance, meaning it acts on the brain and alters the functioning of neural circuits, compelling smokers to continuously seek their dose of nicotine. This partly explains the symptoms of cravings.
Another underlying factor contributing to these cravings is conditioning. Smoking often occurs under similar circumstances, creating habitual associations. While quitting smoking stops nicotine intake, the situations in which smoking previously took place remain. In these specific contexts, intense and irresistible cravings may arise.
What triggers the irresistible urge to smoke?
This intense urge to smoke arises from both physical and psychological dependence on tobacco. However, environmental and psychological factors primarily drive this compulsion.
Physical dependence
When you haven’t smoked for several hours or during the initial days of withdrawal, the lack of nicotine can cause an overwhelming urge to smoke. In such cases, providing nicotine to the body, through nicotine replacement therapies, can help alleviate the craving. However, as you progress in your journey to quit smoking, you’ll soon realize that using nicotine substitutes alone is insufficient to eliminate this phenomenon, which often persists well beyond the phase of physical withdrawal.
Favourable psychological and environmental factors
Smoking is deeply tied to your lifestyle habits, emotions, and surroundings. Any situation that reminds you of positive or negative past moments involving cigarettes can trigger a strong urge to smoke. Notable factors contributing to an uncontrollable craving include:
- Being in situations where you habitually smoked (e.g., having coffee, taking a work break, socializing with friends, or upon waking up).
- Being near smokers or inhaling second-hand smoke.
- Experiencing stress, anxiety, or depressive episodes.
- Spending time in places where you previously smoked regularly (e.g., bars, nightclubs, a friend’s house, or even your own home).
These factors significantly reinforce the habit of smoking, making them important triggers to address when working toward smoking cessation.
Can you overcome the urge to smoke without reaching for a cigarette?
By definition, nicotine cravings are intense but surprisingly brief. On average, the urge to smoke lasts only 3 to 5 minutes. After this short period, the craving subsides and eventually disappears. This means it is entirely possible to overcome the desire to smoke without succumbing to the seemingly irresistible need, though it requires some effort on your part.
Such strong sensations are less likely to fade if you focus on them too much. Instead, it’s important to adopt strategies to redirect your attention and manage the urge effectively.
Overcoming nicotine cravings at the start of a smoking cessation journey
At the beginning of a smoking cessation journey, the desire to smoke is often linked to physical withdrawal from nicotine. This aspect of dependency can be managed with the help of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Ideally, a long-acting delivery method like a nicotine patch should be used, or nicotine gum can be consumed regularly to help prevent cravings and manage the body’s need for nicotine.
What should be done in every case
In any situation, the first step to overcoming a craving is to remove yourself from the circumstances that triggered it. Then, focus on keeping your mind occupied to avoid fixating on the urge.
For example, you can redirect your attention to the activity you were previously engaged in or start something you had planned for later. You can also prepare specific strategies to manage these moments, as recommended by experts in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). In such cases, you might choose to brush your teeth or take a short meditation break whenever you face this challenging situation.
With the right measures, the craving to smoke will typically fade and become nothing more than a memory within fifteen minutes.
How to overcome long-term smoking cravings
Remember what motivated you to quit smoking
To permanently overcome the discomfort caused by cravings, it is essential to remind yourself why you decided to quit smoking in the first place. Most likely, your main motivation was to avoid or address health issues. However, during moments of intense craving, focusing on the immediate benefits of quitting tobacco can be more effective.
For example, think about the fact that you no longer have bad breath, your children no longer criticize you for smelling like cigarettes, and most importantly, you are no longer exposing them to harmful second-hand smoke.
Eliminate triggers that make you want to smoke
Ideally, you should modify the habits that often lead to cravings for a cigarette. While some habits may be difficult to change, you can undoubtedly find ways to adjust others. For instance, consider sipping your coffee in a different room or café, or switching to tea instead of coffee. You might also try taking your work breaks in a different location or avoiding situations that cause stress and anxiety. Gradually, you’ll break away from old routines and feel less tempted to smoke.
Additionally, ensure you remove anything that reminds you of smoking or makes it easier to relapse. Discard or give away any new or opened packs of cigarettes. Hide ashtrays that are in plain sight, and store away any scattered lighters, matches, or other smoking paraphernalia.
By reshaping your environment and daily routines, you can take significant steps toward overcoming the urge to smoke and building a healthier, smoke-free lifestyle.
Medications that can help… or not
There are medications available to help combat the urge to smoke. Unfortunately, this often means replacing one dependency with medical treatments, which isn’t an ideal solution. The best approach is to rely on your internal resources to manage cravings. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t seek assistance!
Your specialist in nicotine-free detox solutions, LaserOstop, offers an effective, simple, and fast method, completely free of side effects, to help you quit smoking and manage challenging cravings with ease.
laserOstop: saying no to smoking cravings
Thanks to a low-density laser that works through photobiomodulation, laserOstop directly targets reflex points linked to the urge to smoke. This method allows individuals to quit smoking without discomfort or the use of chemical substitutes. Tens of thousands of smokers, or rather, former smokers, have already embraced this technique!
Non-invasive, painless, and safe, laserOstop helps address nicotine dependency without the need for compensation mechanisms, often requiring just one session. This method works for anyone seeking freedom from tobacco addiction, including long-term smokers. You can access this solution at specialized laserOstop centres dedicated to tobacco cessation across Mauritius, France, Switzerland, Belgium and beyond.
