I am schizophrenic, and it is a well known fact that schizophrenics smoke more and heavier than the general population. The reason for this (in my opinion, and based on my experience) is the antipsychotic medications restrict the dopamine in the brain so much, and when we smoke it gives the schizophrenic a little bit of dopamine. And this little bit of dopamine take some of the edge (i.e. side effects) off of the meds.
I used to smoke about an average of 45 cigarettes a day. That was just average. Depending on how stressed out I was, sometimes I would smoke 3 or 4 packs in a day. CravingToQuit starts you off with “mindful smoking”. Since I started smoking this way it instantly cut my smoking in half. Today is my eighth day and since I started I haven’t smoked over 25 cigarettes in one day.
Then the program moves to a mindfulness technique that they call “RAIN”. I had a little bit of problems with this part. RAIN is set up so you can “ride out” cravings. I could go through it with smaller cravings, but not most cravings and I would revert back to mindful smoking.
The interesting part is today. Today I learned about “noting”. My goal for today is to do the noting exercise 2 times for one minute each. Well, when I tried it this morning, I found it not only interesting but fun. So I have been noting all day. Driving is a huge trigger for me. So is waiting on someone. And my biggest trigger of all is being around another smoker. Well I have driven for an hour, taking my daughter in law to a doctors appointment. I have been waiting for her to get out of the appointment for about an hour and a half. Through all of this I have not had a cigarette, and she smoked four while I was driving. I am amazed. Did I have cravings? Yes. I did. Especially when she was smoking, but CravingToQuit teaches you how to deal with them.
Now you may look at CravingToQuit, and maybe you notice the monthly cost, and you will probably think like I did, and say “That is outrageous!”. I urge you to give it a try. I have been on the program for only 8 days out of 21, and I have saved almost 30.00 from buying less cigarettes. It is also cheaper than the patch, gum, or lozenges. Plus on top of that I have learned little “side lessons”, as I call them such as how to relax (even without a cigarette). I have also learned not to judge myself so harshly when I fail. Just regroup and figure out where you went wrong and try again. This is a remarkable app, and this should be followed in every stop Smoking clinic in the world.