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The advent of a wide range of smoking-cessation medications has offered many new options for those seeking to quit, but for most people, support networks and professional assistance seem to be critical factors. Quitting is as much of a psychological as it is a physical task, and proper guidance, motivation, and encouragement is essential to success for most people. It is essential that you surround yourself with the right people at this time. Seek out supportive friends and family who understand your desire to quit and will offer you encouragement and even constructive criticism as warranted. You will probably need to stay away from many of your old "stomping grounds" and normal leisure activities for at least a while, as you may associate these with smoking. Make sure your friends and family can support such changes. How to Quit Smoking offers more information on the need for support, as well as more detailed information on quitting smoking in general. This WikiHow article on quitting also offers a helpful array of advice regarding the need for internal and external emotional support when you want to stop smoking. There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to smoking cessation, but some methods seem to be more likely to succeed than others. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a combination of counseling plus medication offers the best chance for success. This is followed by use of medications alone including Chantix and nicotine patches, gums, sprays, etc. and counseling and support alone. Accept that your initial attempt(s) to quit will quite possibly fail, no matter how highly-recommended your approach and how strong your determination. An early failure or two does not mean you are weak-willed; it means you are normal. Keep trying, and know that you can quit because anyone can quit with the right mix of methods and support. The support of friends and family is essential, but smoking cessation often also requires the help of people trained specifically for the task. Regularly utilizing person-to-person counseling, or even counseling over the phone, can double your chances of successfully quitting. Quitting smoking isn't just about kicking a nicotine habit; it also requires changes to behavior patterns that have become fundamental to your daily life. Properly-trained behavioral therapists can help guide you through the difficult transition into smoking-free behaviors, such as with your typical post-meal, after-work, or post-argument routines. For most people, professional counseling works best when combined with medication, and when they are supported by friends and family. Recent years have witnessed a marked increase in approved medications that can help you quit smoking, and it is easier than ever to get started with them. Many of the common medications work by replacing your nicotine "fix" with an alternate source other than cigarettes, while others deal with how your body responds to nicotine. Varencline (Chantix), for instance, impacts your brain's nicotine receptors and can make the sensation of smoking less enjoyable. It requires a prescription and must be taken according to specific instructions, and with an eye out for possible side effects. Bupropion (Wellbutrin or Zyban) can help reduce your experience of symptoms caused by nicotine withdrawal. Again, follow your doctor's guidance closely and pay attention to potential side effects. Various nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) medications are now available in the U.S. without a prescription. They come in forms including patches, gums, lozenges, tablets, inhalers, and sprays, under brand names like Nicoderm, Nicorette, and Nicotrol. They deliver nicotine to your body to replace what you lose by not smoking, and ideally will make it easier for you to wean yourself off of nicotine dependency. As mentioned in the counseling step, smoking cessation methods work best for most people when paired with professional therapy to deal with behavioral changes. Commercials, advertisements, and testimonials will tell you that methods like hypnosis, laser therapy, and acupuncture can help you quit smoking. There is nothing to say that they can't work for you; however, there is also no solid scientific evidence that such alternative methods can improve your odds of quitting. You don't have to avoid them because they are unproven according to medical research. You should just choose to use them or not with that knowledge in mind. Note that switching from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes also falls into this category of unproven methods. In the end, it doesn't really matter how you quit, so long as you are not using a method that harms you in some other way or replacing smoking with another bad habit. The most important thing is to quit, in whatever ways work best for you and for your overall health and well-being. Cutting out the act of smoking will create a void in your daily routines, and people often fill this void with comforts like food, alcohol, or other alternatives that are harmful in excess. It is important that you have a plan in place ahead of time to replace smoking with healthy, beneficial behaviors. Exercise is probably the best replacement, as it will help you compound the health benefits of not smoking. Smoking increases your metabolism and reduces your appetite, so it is common for weight gain to occur after you quit. Making healthy food choices, exercising regularly, and becoming more physically active in general will help combat weight gain, benefit your overall health, and give you positive replacements for the time you used to spend smoking. Consider investing some of the money you'll save by not buying cigarettes into healthy foods or a gym membership, for instance. " Smoking traditional cigarettes exposes you to a wide range of toxins and known cancer-causing agents. Smoking any type of cigarette containing nicotine exposes you to compounds known to damage heart cells. No matter how you look at it, smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your health. The good news is that much of the damage caused by smoking can be reversed once you quit. Your risk of heart disease reduces by half one year after you quit, and your risk of heart attack after fifteen years is about the same as if you had never picked up a single cigarette.

Summary:
Don't go it alone. Use what worked for others, but realize that you're an individual. Seek professional guidance and counseling. Try smoking cessation medications. Be cautious of unproven methods. Find a healthy replacement for smoking. Keep in mind why it is so important to quit and to "stay quit.