Let this be a day of growth and understanding, today we all have the
op****tunity to debunk one of the greatest myths of smoking, NRT.
SUBSTITUTES by Allen Carr (Easyway)
Substitutes include chewing gum, sweets, peppermints, herbal
cigarettes, and pills. DO NOT USE ANY OF THEM. They make it harder,
not easier. If you do get a pang and use a substitute, it will prolong
the pang and make it harder. What you are really saying is =93I need to
smoke or fill the void.=94 It will be like giving in to a hijacker or
the tantrums of a child. It will just keep the pangs coming and
prolong the torture. In any event the substitutes will not relieve the
pangs. Your craving is for nicotine, not food. All it will do is keep
you thinking about smoking. Remember these points:
1. There is no substitute for nicotine.
2. You do not need nicotine. It is not food; it is poison. When the
pangs come remind yourself that it is smokers who suffer withdrawal
pangs, not non-smokers. See the pangs as another evil of the drug. See
them as the death of a monster.
Remember, cigarettes create the void; they do not fill it. The quicker
you teach your brain that you do not need to smoke or do anything else
in its place, the sooner you will be free.
In particular, avoid any product that contains nicotine, whether it be
gum, patch, nasal spray, or the latest gimmick. It is true that a
small pro****tion of smokers who attempt to quit using nicotine
substitutes do succeed and attribute their success to such use.
However, they quit in spite of the substitute and not because of it.
It is unfortunate that many doctors still recommend nicotine
replacement therapy (NRT).
This is not surprising because, if you don=92t fully understand the
nicotine trap, NRT sounds very logical. It is based on the belief that
when you attempt to quit smoking, you have two powerful enemies to
defeat. You must:
1. Break the habit
2. Survive the terrible physical nicotine withdrawals and pains.
If you have two powerful enemies to defeat, it is sensible not to
fight them simultaneously, but one at a time. So the NRT theory is
that you first stop smoking but continue to take a nicotine
replacement. Then, once you have broken the habit, you gradually
reduce the supply of nicotine, thus tackling each enemy separately.
It sounds logical, but it is based on the wrong facts. Smoking is not
a habit but nicotine addiction, and the actual physical pain from
nicotine withdrawal is almost imperceptible. What you are trying to
achieve when you quit smoking is to kill both the little nicotine
monster in your body and the big monster inside your brain as quickly
as possible. All NRT does it prolong the life of the little monster,
which in turn prolongs the life of the big monster.
Remember, EASYWAY makes it easy to quit immediately. You can kill the
big monster (brainwa****ng) before you extinguish your final cigarette.
The little monster will soon be dead and, even while it is dying, will
be no more of a problem than it was when you were a smoker.
Just think, how can you possibly cure an addict of a drug addiction by
recommending the same drug? One eminent and highly respected doctor
has actually stated on national television that some smokers are so
dependent on nicotine that if they did quit they would have to take
nicotine substitutes for life. How can a doctor get so confused as to
believe that human body is not just dependent on food, water and
oxygen, but also on a powerful poison?
We often have smokers attend our clinics who have quit smoking but are
hooked on nicotine gum. Others are hooked on the gum and are still
smoking. Do not be fooled by the fact that the gum tastes awful =96 so
did the first cigarette.
All substitutes have exactly the same effect as nicotine chewing gum.
I=92m now talking about this business of =93I can=92t have a cigarette, so
I=92ll have ordinary chewing gum, or sweets, or peppermints to help fill
the void.=94 Although the empty feeling of wanting a cigarette is
indistinguishable from hunger for food, one will not satisfy the
other. In fact, if anything is designed to make you want a cigarette,
it=92s stuffing yourself with chewing gum or peppermints.
But the chief evil of substitutes is that they prolong the real
problem, which is the brainwa****ng. By saying, =93I need a substitute
for smoking=94 what you are really saying is =93I am making a
sacrifice.=94
The depression associated with the Willpower Method is caused by the
fact that smoker believes is making a sacrifice. All you will be doing
is to substitute one problem for another. There is no pleasure in
stuffing yourself with sweets. You will just get fat and miserable,
and in no time at all you=92ll be back on the weed.
Casual smokers find it difficult to dismiss the belief that they are
being deprived of their little reward: the cigarette during the coffee
break of office or factory workers who aren=92t allowed to smoke while
working, or of the teachers in the staff room between lessons, or the
quickie by doctors during patients. Some say: =93I wouldn=92t even take
the break if I didn=92t smoke.=94 That proves the point: often the break
is taken, not because the smoker needs it or even wants it, but
because the smoker desperately needs to scratch the itch. Remember,
those cigarettes never were genuine rewards. They were equivalent to
wearing tight shoes to get the pleasure of taking them off. So if you
feel that you must have a little reward, let that be your substitute;
while you are working, wear a pair of shoes a size too small for you,
don=92t allow yourself to remove them until you have your break, then
experience that wonderful moment of relaxation and satisfaction when
you do remove them. Perhaps you feel that would be rather stupid. You
are absolutely right. It=92s hard to visualise while you are still in
the trap, but that is what smokers do. It=92s also hard to visualise
that soon you won=92t need that little =93reward,=94 and you=92ll regard
you=
r
friends who are still in the trap with genuine pity and wonder why
they cannot see the point.
However, if you go on kidding yourself that the cigarette was a
genuine reward or that you need a substitute to take its place, you
will feel deprived and miserable, and the chances are that you=92ll end
up smoking again. IF you need a genuine break, you=92ll soon be enjoying
that break even more because you won=92t have to choke yourself.
Remember, you don=92t need a substitute. Those pangs are a craving for
poison and will soon be gone. Let that be your prop for the next few
days. Enjoy ridding your body of poison and your mind of slavery and
dependence.
If, because your appetite is better, you eat more at main meals and
put on a couple of extra pounds during the next few days, don=92t worry
about it. When you experience the =93moment of revelation=94 that I
describe later, you will have confidence, and you=92ll find that any
problem you have that is capable of being solved by positive thinking
you will be able to solve, including eating habits. But what you must
not do is start picking between meals. If you do, you will get fat and
miserable and you will never know when you=92ve kicked the weed. You=92ll
just be replacing the problem instead of getting rid of it.
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