On the other hand, serious smokers spend as much on cigarettes and related health care costs. For those ready to quit smoking, who are having trouble with nicotine withdrawal, nicotine gum or a patch might provide the extra edge needed to quit for good. Your physician can help motivate you by discussing your personal health and the risks you take when you smoke. Some physicians recommend hypnosis to help you quit. Your physician might even prescribe a tranquilizer for your worst few days of withdrawal, but he would not want you to substitute a new addiction for an old one.
Additional help is often available through community health programs that offer group counseling.
Many smokers find group counseling encouraging because they are in an environment where everyone shares the same problems, thus making it easier to discuss them openly. The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, Smokenders , and the Seventh Day Adventist Church offer excellent group programs. Ask anyone who has quit smoking. Most who have quit are justly proud of this significant personal accomplishment. Their homes and offices no longer are polluted with smoke, cigarette butts and ashes, and they are finished finding cigarette burns on their carpets, furniture and clothes.