New Year Resolution

How long can you hold your breath? If you are a smoker, the results of this test would predict the likelihood of being successful at quitting those cigarettes. This is not because holding your breath is related to your lung capacity. Rather, it has something to do with distress tolerance.

 Now that New Year is with us again it’s time to think about resolutions, like giving up smoking, doing more exercise or going on a diet

Smoking is tricky to stop for three basic reasons: 1) It is a well-rehearsed habit. 2) Nicotine is physically addictive. 3) Smoking provides and maintains a sense of comfort. Although there are good treatments for smoking cessation, a sizable percentage of people attempting to quit never abstain from cigarettes for more than a few days. 

Modern ideas of health and wellbeing are based on the idea of an absence of illness or feeling bad, this implicitly implies that a healthy person will never feel bad and is in complete control. Of course there’s nothing like giving up smoking to make one feel bad, due to the additive nature of nicotine. The idea that we can give up smoking by willpower alone is a myth that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) tackles.

 In normal circumstances if something external makes us feel bad we can try to get rid of it, and this strategy works well 9 out of 10 times we use it. But because this strategy is verbally established in society we will use it in situations where it will not be helpful, such as trying to stop feeling bad when we’re stopping smoking. This is what is known in ACT as an “unworkable change agenda”.

ACT proposes a different approach; basically two processes of Acceptance and Committed Action are tackled using 6 core principles of ACT.

1: Undermining Control, Acceptance and Willingness: Understanding that the strategy of willpower and trying to control is futile for trying to stop smoking. Opening up to, or being willing to feel bad because we are doing something that is important to us. Lastly accepting and just noticing how we feel and what we are thinking.

2: Undermine Cognitive Fusion: This the process of realising that when our mind tells us “you have to smoke or you’ll die” it is just trying to protect you from nicotine withdrawal, so just gently thank it and remind it that smoking a cigarette right now is not helpful. Remember your mind is there to protect you, and often has its own agenda. I used to think my brain was the most important part of my body, until I realised who was telling me that.

3:  Getting in Contact with the Present Moment:           This is all about showing up and being there. Pain and suffering are part of the human experience, but we refuse to accept it and spend a great amount of our time avoiding life, which at times can be unpleasant. To give up smoking we must be present and be prepared to experience cigarette withdrawal. I’m not talking about tolerating, but really being present with it and not trying to avoid it. Get in contact with the withdrawal, where does it appear in your body, how does it feel. Is it big, small or hot or cold? When urges come, imagine surfing on them until they break like waves, but never try to avoid them.

4: Distinguish Conceptualized Self from the Self as Context: This is the ability to separate ourselves from our inner private experience. In Western Culture we don’t have a name for this, but in many eastern cultures there is a difference between a transcendental self which observes ourselves as thinkers and planners. We are not these thoughts or these plans but just the arena where they take place. If we can get in touch with this transcendental self we could observe ourselves thinking and planning and realise that those thoughts and feeling and emotions are not us and we can create distance between us and any thoughts and feelings we may have related to smoking.

5: Values: There is a reason why we want to give up smoking. Giving up is a goal that we wish to achieve, but to understand why we must look at the values that undermine the goal of stopping smoking. Although the goal is the same for everyone, the value will be different. To feel fitter, so my baby doesn’t grow up in a smoky atmosphere, to save money...etc. The list of values as to why we give up smoking can be endless. Work out what are your values in relation to smoking. Then let everything you do be in service of these values. Ask yourself if smoking will help you live a value guided life.

6: Committed Action: This where we bring everything together, as we begin committed action that is coherent with our values (in this case stopping smoking)we will encounter psychological barriers as our mind tries to protect us and convince us that stopping smoking is not such a good idea. We will experience unpleasant feelings and the big question is, are we willing to have these unpleasant thoughts and feelings without trying to change their form or their frequency? Accept and be willing because you’re doing something that’s important to you.

Good luck if you’re going to stop smoking. The most important thing to remember is that if you fail, then that’s OK too. Simply take responsibility and remember your values. Be present, open up and be willing. Learn to accept and distance yourself from your thoughts and feelings and continue with committed action.