Conference hydra::dejavu

    Christine, you will only successfully give up smoking when you,
    yourself want to. All other aids are merely props, whether they be
    nicotine loaded chewing gum or a hypnotist. If you really want to give
    up smoking just never light another cigarette ever again.

    It is a very hard and difficult thing to do. But there are no short
    cuts or painless methods. You have to decide who rules your body, you
    or a small white cylinder of tobacco.

    I tried just about every so called cure with very little effect.
    Finally I went cold turkey, no gradual weaning off, no sweets or any
    other food substitute. It hurt and I was moody for about 3 weeks but it
    was successful. Oh and it was also free.

    Jamie.

    Christine, I agree with .1 You'll give up when you are truly ready to.
    I smoked up to 2 packs a day from the time I was 7 to when I was 36. I
    just woke up one day and said "NO MORE". I stopped cold turkey. This
    may not be the way for you, and in fact, I tried it once before and
    stopped for 2 years and then stupidly started again. I had an excuse,
    but it was just that, an excuse. I know your writings from womannotes
    and I know you to be a strong individual. If you really want to, you'll
    channel that strength into quiting the ol' demon tobacco. You have my
    support and I know it's tough. You can do it if YOU really want to.
    
    Good luck, my prayers, and hugs to you in this,
    
    PJ

    More on theory.  Sorry no references for your geographical location.
    
    There's an aphorism in some circles that "all hypnosis is
    self-hypnosis."
    
    I think that aspect of this treatment modality speaks to what 
    PJ and Jamie have recommended.  I've known people who have been
    helped by hypnotists (and hypnotherapists) in this kind of habit 
    modification, so I certainly won't try to dissuade you.  If if you do 
    find a good hypnotist or hypnotherapist of your liking, you might get 
    them to help you learn effective autosuggestion (self-suggestion) as
    well as helping with smoking.  This makes the
    time you spend with them worth more than just the habit modification,
    whether you quit smoking as a result or not.
    
    						kind regards and good luck,
    
    						todd

    
    Christine,
    
    This is a bit of a change from the hypnotist and cold turkey approachs, 
    however you may wish to purchase a copy of "Perfect Health" by Deepak 
    Chopra, M.D.  I read a lot of it over the weekend and I've already begun 
    to put the information in the book into practice in my own life.  It's
    a bestseller and available in paperback, so if you're in a bookstore
    anytime soon, flip through it and see what you think.  Check the index
    for 'smoking' - there might be a section in there on this.  My copy is
    at home at the moment.
    
    Dr. Chopra was also was a smoker until he stumbled upon Ayurveda, an
    ancient system of medicine from India, his original homeland.  He is a
    Western-trained physician who is now approaching patients using this
    different system of how the body, mind and spirit work together. 
                         
    Cindy    

    Another good read is the statistics of the number of people who die
    each year from smoking induced lung and heart diseases.

    Jamie.

    
    I think you should read "Perfect Health" too, Jamie.  I'm quite
    serious about this.  
    
    Your point about lung and heart diseases is correct and well taken, 
    however using fear as a catalyst to change one's behavior patterns 
    is not a very healthy approach to the situation.
    
    Cindy

    
    	Though I'm not a smoker (and never have) three of my
    	co-workers had success through the Digital sponsored
    	hypnosis program. I beleive the Beder Institue offered
    	a class just prior to the "No Smoking" policy going
    	into effect.
    
    	Check with Health Services at your facilty - I believe	
        DEC still sponsors several programs and no charge to
    	you.
    
    	I agree that you have to be ready to do this though -
    	hypnosis or not - you must be ready to stop - the
    	suggestion merely serves to strengthen your resolve.
    
    	GOOD LUCK! You've taken the first step!
    
    			Heidi
    

>>    	hypnosis program. I beleive the Beder Institue offered
>>    	a class just prior to the "No Smoking" policy going

	Yep!  I took the DEC 'no smoking' program.  Mr Beder is excellent!
	
	It's been over a year now.

	Good luck to you... also I believe what ever it takes....it's worth
	it - DO it for YOU!

	8-)

	Mikki    

    As Todd said, "All hypnosis is self-hypnosis."  What a good hypnotist
    can do is give you the tools and techniques to help yourself, along with 
    some support, so that quitting is far less painful than simple "cold
    turkey."
    
    Cindy, I have to disagree with you here.  A look at the negatives can
    be a powerful motivator.  Whereas pretending the negatives don't exist
    can lead one off into the 'la la land' of self delusion.
    
    I, personally, find that some balance between negatives and positives 
    can be most useful.  Especially for accomplishing something quite
    difficult.  Personally, I use whatever motivator it takes to get me
    over the high hurdles!
    
    Mary

    Of course you could visit some large hospital and ask them to let you
    see a patient who is in the last stages of lung cancer. I know that
    this made one friend of mine never smoke another cigarette.

    I go along with Mary here, negative experiences do teach you just as
    effectively as positive ones. If something hurts you then you are
    reluctant to repeat it.

    Jamie.

    Fear and horror are not great motivators for me.  They tend to just
    make me despair.  I think people who attempt to motivate through
    fear eventually cause more harm than good. 
    
    What did work for me as far as quitting smoking was paying attention to
    my feelings.  I told myself that cigarettes were no longer an option
    so what else did I want?  Often, I found that when I was reaching for
    a cigarette what I wanted was a break.  Sometimes, I used cigarettes
    as a way of suppressing anger;  when smoking was not an option, I
    realized what I wanted was to express some anger.  For almost
    every cigarette that I had been used to smoking there was a
    need for something that wasn't nicotine.
    
    Sue 

    Sue,
    
    I think it depends on the individual and the situation.  Fear and
    horror lead me to despair when they are fear and horror of things that
    I can't do anything about.  On the other hand, if its something that
    I can change, and especially that I want to change, they get me through
    the worst cravings.   Mostly carrot, but without the stick there the
    carrot isn't always quite enough.
    
    I find that when I learn how much potential pain there is with certain
    behaviors, that can be a great starter to changing that behavior.  And
    later, when the self-destructive behavior is "calling to me,"
    remembering the horror can give me the will power to get through it.
    
    For example, I had tried unsuccessfully to turn vegetarian several
    times in the past -- never lasted more than 6 months to a year.  Then I
    learned the horrors of factory farming.  I developed a very strong
    resolve at that point to turn and stay vegetarian, and am working now
    toward turning vegan.  
    
    The positive sides of it provide my main, day-to-day motivator -- my 
    improving health, decreased damage to the environment, etc.  But on
    those occasions when I haven't planned well and Tobins is giving me an
    even worse choice than the usual 2 overcooked mushy veggies and rice
    ;-), and I'm feeling half starved and they have something truly
    mouthwatering (at least, to my memory), then dragging out the image of
    chickens with beaks hacked off and feet literally have grown to the
    wire floors of their tiny cages, or cattle crying out in pain and
    thrashing in desparation as they hang, fully conscious, suspended
    upside down by a chain wrapped around a snapped cannon bone, does the
    trick.
    
    Mary

  
  Thank you Mary ... I really needed your last paragraph first thing in the
  morning ... still, at least I read it over coffee rather than lunch ...
  
  Frank

    Any would be vegetarians who wish some of the same incentive that Mary
    had please contact me. I have in machine readable form the English
    translation of the specification for a factory that you put live
    chickens in at one end and get chicken fillets out the other.

    Harry translated it from Dutch to English and despite the fact that he
    is a pathologist to trade, he turned some funny colours when he did so.

    As it would offend many I will not drop it in here but I'm willing to
    Email it.

    Jamie.

	Well, if I remember right....  Mr. Beder does some explaining that
	sounds pretty terrible.  Like when they roll a cigarette, there can
	be cockroaches in the tobacco, and all sorts of creatures because 
	the tobacco farms don't care, there are any agencies looking over
	thier shoulders.

	That did it for me.....yuck!.. not to mention the harm it does to
	our bodies. 

	So there will be some of that in his lecture.

	** Hi Mary M.  

	8-)

	Mikki    

    I thought the ones with the cockroaches were extra ?
    
    Oh, maybe that was the bananna skins.  Sorry.

		re.-1

	Nothing, Toddy, I did it for 20 years...

	;')

	Mikki_who's_been_smoke_free_for_over_a_year...8-)

    
    See note 1583.3.
    
    Cindy