Reading Nook

Complete course to quit smoking

The Science of Quitting Smoking

web.sections.reading_nook.course_author_name Bruno Monse

Quitting smoking is possible. This course guides you with brief, practical lessons to prepare for your quit day, get through the first days, manage withdrawal and cravings, and build a smoke-free life with healthy habits and enjoyable activities.

Module 1

Preparation and the first few days

In this module you’ll understand what addiction is and why we smoke, you’ll discover what you gain by quitting, you’ll prepare for Quit Day with practical strategies, you’ll learn how to manage withdrawal, and you’ll wrap up by integrating the keys to staying smoke-free.

What is an addiction?

Discover what addiction really is from a comprehensive perspective that includes biological, psychological, and social components, and how understanding this will help you feel like an active part of the change.

Why do you smoke and why quit?

Explore the deeper reasons why you started smoking and why you now want to quit, learning to take a personal inventory and to navigate grief in a healthy way.

What will you gain by quitting smoking?

Discover all the benefits you’ll gain by quitting smoking: from immediate health improvements to financial, social, and environmental benefits that will motivate you throughout the process.

Preparation or cutting down

Learn how to prepare for Quit Day with strategies for tracking your smoking, techniques to make the act of smoking “uncomfortable,” and managing your social and family environment.

Useful and Positive Strategies

Discover practical strategies to manage cravings to smoke, identify your high-risk situations, and learn when (and for what) medication can help as part of a comprehensive approach.

Quit Day

Kick off your Quit Day: clean up your environment, set daily goals, create new routines, and prepare distractions for your body and mind.

Withdrawal

Learn to manage withdrawal symptoms with specific strategies for each symptom, and understand the “pink cloud” phenomenon that can appear after the first few days of quitting smoking.

Summary

Integrate what you’ve learned and see what’s next: review the key points for quitting smoking, risks and strategies, and anticipate how to maintain abstinence in the next module.

Module 2

Consolidate abstinence and sustain the change

In this module, you will solidify your abstinence by distinguishing detoxification from breaking the habit, debunking myths through cognitive restructuring, building healthy habits and pleasures, redefining your identity without tobacco, identifying false control, and preparing for the next steps.

Detoxification and breaking the habit

Differentiate between detoxification and breaking the habit, and learn to consolidate abstinence with new habits, associations, and rewards.

Cognitive restructuring

Debunk tobacco myths and activate self-control thoughts to reduce the risk of relapse.

Quit it or fill it?

Move from “quitting” tobacco to “filling” the space that smoking used to occupy: build healthy habits and sources of pleasure that solidify your new smoke-free life.

A new "me" is born

Redefine your identity beyond tobacco: design a new “you” aligned with your smoke-free life, and let go of chronic labels that no longer fit you

False control

Spot the “false sense of control” and learn to safeguard your abstinence against this trap.

Summary

Recap the key points from the module and get ready for the next one: cravings, practical strategies, and how to manage relapses.

Module 3

*Craving* and relapses

In this module, you will understand *craving* and its causes, apply resources to cope with it, learn to face relapses as part of the process, review your journey, and wrap up with adjustments to keep moving forward.

*Craving*

Learn what *craving* is, the difference between desire and pleasure, and the neurological and psychological mechanisms that cause it so you can manage it better.

Resources for *cravings*

Find practical tools to manage *craving*: breathing, a rescue call, a change of context, and body-based resources that help you regain control.

Relapses

Learn to understand relapses as a relearning phase, not as failure, through metaphors that show how each attempt brings you closer to success.

Resources for relapses

Find resources to manage relapses: from resuming treatment to using subjective rating scales and staying persistent, remembering that every attempt counts.

Full review

Do a thorough review of your process by evaluating which strategies worked, which didn’t, what you’ve achieved, what still needs to be done, and what you’ve learned so you can keep moving forward with compassion and determination.

Summary

Learn strategies to deal with *cravings*, how to handle a relapse, and what to adjust to keep moving forward with your abstinence.