Quit Smoking: 1 of Top 3 Resolutions: Advice to Help

Formaldehyde, ammonia, acetone, do any of these things ring a bell? Formaldehyde preserves dead bodies, ammonia is used to clean toilets and acetone is an ingredient in nail polish remover.
And oh, by the way, they're all chemicals found in cigarettes. Good reasons to quit, right?

Quitting is actually among the top three new year's resolutions.

There's another reason, besides health, people decide to quit smoking.

"Quitting is really difficult, so if somebody tells you it's easy to quit, they don't really know what they're talking about,” explains Cristina Gibson, the director of health promotion & disease prevention for the Coastal Health District.

Cristina Gibson with the Coastal Health District teaches free smoking cessation classes. She says while people quit for health reasons, that's not all.

"They're also doing it for economic reasons. Cigarettes are expensive. Each year, if you smoke a pack a day, it's about $1,825 that you could be using towards a vacation, or you know something different...paying off bills,” adds Gibson.

And health care is more expensive for a smoker than a non-smoker, 60 bucks a month more for state employees who smoke.

Gibson says there are four things you need to keep in mind when considering quitting smoking, nicotine, the drug in cigarettes, is very addictive, so you may need help from a nicotine replacement therapy like the patch, gum or even medication to help quit.

Next, know what kind of a quitter you are; cold turkey or gradual? Men are better at quitting cold turkey and women, gradually.

Third, be prepared for a stressful event like a death, breakup or loss of job.

"You have to have a strategy on how you're gonna deal with those kinds of events so you stay quit," says Gibson.

Finally, Gibson says keep it in your head if you avoid one cigarette, you avoid all others.

"Many people feel that now that they've quit, they can have one cigarette and they won't go back to smoking, but what we've found is that's the one cigarette that draws them back to smoking like they did before they quit,” explains Gibson.

For free lunchtime Freshstart classes, call Cristina to register at 912-484-1885 or register online at www.gachd.org The classes are limited to 10 people. Class dates are on 1/12, 1/14, 1/19 and 1/21 from noon until 1p.m. Classes will be held at the Chatham County Environmental Health Department conference room, 420 Mall Blvd, 31406.

For the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line, call 1-877-870-STOP.

Register for Fresh Start classes at your work site.

Registration Form for Freshstart Classes

Name:

Date of Birth:

Form(s) of tobacco used:

Name of worksite (organization of employment):

Phone number: E-mail:

Would you like a certificate of completion for the Freshstart smoking cessation series (please circle one):

Yes No

Please send in your registration via fax or e-mail:
Fax – 912.644.5220
e-mail – cpgibson@dhr.state.ga.us

*Class dates are 1/12, 1/14, 1/19 & 1/21. Please call 912.484.1885 with any questions or concerns.