Depression,Concentration,Fags and Fitness

k.p.h

Hi everyone I posted this last week and no one replied :mad:

k.p.h wrote: »

Hi everyone

I'm smoking as I write this :mad: I really need some advice. I until last thursday I was smoke free for 3 weeks was not doing to bad as will power got me through the major physical withdrawal but I really had some trouble last weekend.I had a sever bout of depression and unreal lack of concentration.I know it's to be expected but the problem is I am studying computer science at the moment and its effecting my ability to work. Badly ! I poxed through an exam two weeks ago with no proper study but I'v end of semester exams coming up soon and will have to put in some serious work fully concentrated(boolean algebra,calculus ect..). I don't know what to do really. I'm in the gym or training nearly every evening now and in great physical shape but my lungs are a weak point. I noticed the my capacity increase immediately after giving up and its a great motivator buy alas my ability to concentrate properly is extremely important at the moment. Aghhh if you have read this far you obviously see my dilemma. The depression was killing me too it was genuinely bad. I'm not sure now am I rationalizing smoking or am I really in genuine situation. Guys thats all I can say really any advice or even someone telling me I am not the only one that had this dilemma.:cool:

I'v just returned from hurling training and I'm in bits feel very sick, back on the fags since Friday night. Feel worse tonight compared to the first couple sessions when I was off them it's unbelievable how badly 5 days of smoking can effect you(and on the other hand 3 weeks off them)..

I'v just about finished programming my project,best work I'v done in weeks got stuck in for 12hrs straight and solved the problem. it's unbelievable how 5 days of smoking and a few cups of coffee can effect you(and on the other hand 3 weeks off them)..

**** it

howardmarks

Its been said that you should wait til stressful events in your case exams have passed before u decide to become a non smoker. Tho considering life is full of stresses you could wait the rest of your life for a non stressful period.
Fair play for your periods of non smoking and its good u noticed significant improvement during training in your health and ability etc. Maybe you should focus on that in your next attempt?

Btw you now associate smoking with your ability to concentrate and do things whereas its really the opposite. Your mind assumes u cant study without smoking. How is that possible when we werent designed to smoke?

I wish u luck on this. Sorry if my advice is unhelpful.

k.p.h

Thats it their never really is a good time to quit but I must admit its just as stressful to be training hard and have smoking keep me from performing my best. I'v had a chat to a few people about it and they reckon just priorities are important so getting my exams done had to be the most important thing.

I have 5 weeks left so I think I am going to continue smoking as little as possible until then (and extreemly little on training days) to keep me away from the point where my concentration levels fall off.

I feel so motivated to stop and have done for the past few months I know I have the will power because it was not the desire to smoke a fag that caused me to smoke again it was the desire to not have to think about smoking and be able to concentrate. They are evil bastards I must admit I would give anything to not have to ever think about them again!!

antiskeptic

k.p.h wrote: »

Thats it their never really is a good time to quit but I must admit its just as stressful to be training hard and have smoking keep me from performing my best. I'v had a chat to a few people about it and they reckon just priorities are important so getting my exams done had to be the most important thing.

I have 5 weeks left so I think I am going to continue smoking as little as possible until then (and extreemly little on training days) to keep me away from the point where my concentration levels fall off.

I feel so motivated to stop and have done for the past few months I know I have the will power because it was not the desire to smoke a fag that caused me to smoke again it was the desire to not have to think about smoking and be able to concentrate. They are evil bastards I must admit I would give anything to not have to ever think about them again!!

In case you miss my response in the other thread.

What can I do but recommend Allen Carr's book "The easyway to stop smoking"? There are any number of positive things that can be said about his method (and few if any negatives) but the one most relevant to you at this moment is that you can continue your smoking whilst reading it. And that his method doesn't rely on your (ongoing) application of willpower.

If you do read it, take it slow and steady - but read consistantly. You should be a happy, depression-free non-smoker in a week to 10 days.

Allen Carr would recommend quitting in a stressful period in fact. That said, I waited until my exams where finished as I just couldn't countenance the extra pressure.

They are evil bastards I must admit I would give anything to not have to ever think about them again!!

Straight out of Satans rectum they are indeed. Insidious, vile, devious - were you to personify them.

I'm not sure what others say about other methods but I know from own experience that the willpower method required an ongoing application of willpower to ensure the every-present (if diminished) temptation wasn't going to be given into at some future point. Not that I ever lasted that long when applying willpower

The beauty (and simplicity) of Allens approach is to tell the simple truth about cigarettes. What they are, why people get hooked, why people find it difficult to quit, why methods which aren't based on telling the truth about cigarettes generally leaves the person a miserable non-smoker vunerable to slipping off the wagon later. And why quitting is actually the easiest thing in the world - when you are shown how.

Many here have testified to their success. Not least their being truly able to leave cigarettes behind and not think about them from one end of the year to the next.

k.p.h

I think you are after hitting on something I was thinking about their. My willpower seemed to diminish to longer I was off them. I was kinda imagining the longer I was off them the less effort I had to put into keeping my guard up. So in the end it was only half the craving I was having the first week that pushed me over the edge.

Well maybe the depression and desire to lift my mood was their too. I felt good about myself the first couple of weeks because I was getting over them but that sense of achievement soon wore off and I was just left feeling kinda down and worn out.

Stuck to the bed there morning's too :mad: was up before my alarm nearly all the week's I was off them. I didn't feel more energetic when I was off them like most people say but now I'm smoking again I feel a lot more lethargic. Feel like **** to be honest. Just had a coffee and a fag with the lads at college used to enjoy the morning smoke but was pretty **** this morning.

Allan Carr's book might be the way to go.I'm going to try pick it up this afternoon. Thanks

antiskeptic

k.p.h wrote: »

I think you are after hitting on something I was thinking about their. My willpower seemed to diminish to longer I was off them. I was kinda imagining the longer I was off them the less effort I had to put into keeping my guard up. So in the end it was only half the craving I was having the first week that pushed me over the edge.

An explanation into basic human psychology is woven into the very readible (and disarmingly simplistic) approach Allen uses. And he explains the phenomenon above in ultra-plausible fashion.

Consider:

Just prior to an attempt to quit, your motivation is at an all time high. This, because the various reasons you should quit are sitting at the forefront of your mind:

- you wake up on Monday after a few too many beers and cigs and you've never felt worse

- the concern for what you're doing to your health in the short and long term cranks up

- you've a cold and can't believe you could think of smoking through it - it frightens you that you could be so hooked

- you may well have to miss lunch in order to buy your cigarettes today.

- the stink of your room, your clothes your fingers ... ugh

Highly motivated, you quit.

And the reasons you have for quitting immediately begin to disappate. In a week or two you'll feel better, the black thoughts about lung cancer will be gone, you're breath feels fantastically fresh and you can get a second day out of a shirt.

The reason why you're actually hooked to smoking hasn't been dealt with yet + the reasons why you quit have evaporated. And so the obvious thing happens...

You fall back into the pit. Fortunately, Allen knows that's the way it works.

Allan Carr's book might be the way to go.I'm going to try pick it up this afternoon. Thanks

A copy of it came into our house and we all quit. It was loaned to friends and they all quit. It will surely enable you to quit - and that easily. You only have to follow his few, simple instructions*.


PS: Get "The easyway to stop smoking" not "the only way to stop smoking" by the same author

PS: I quit easily - just like it said on the tin. 4 years later - without having barely thought of cigarettes in the interim - I was on holidays where folk were doing a bit of hash smoking and I got involved. In smoking joints I had ignored one of his few, simple rules given at the end of the book ("now that you're free of cigarettes, don't ever re-hook yourself by putting nicotine in your body"). I came back off that holiday with 200 duty free in my bad. It took another 3 years of misery before I was low enough in the pit to pick up his book and read it again.

All the very best - but like he says - it's actually very easy. When you know how.