Most, if not all, of those who have tried to quit smoking would say that quitting smoking is not easy. True, but difficulty does not mean impossibility. It can be done. According to a California rehabilitation facility, the secret to doing it successfully is knowing exactly what you are up against, knowing your options, and where to go for help.

To begin with, you should first have the resolution to quit. To do this, you must understand the reason why you should quit. There are many reasons why you should quit smoking; among these are the risk of lung cancer and the probability of having a longer life.

Nicotine

Understanding Nicotine

Next, once you have resolved within yourself that you would already quit smoking, you must know what you are up against, which is nicotine. Nicotine is the culprit behind the difficulty in quitting smoking. Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco, which is highly addictive. Thus, where a person smokes, and thereby exposes himself continuously to the substance, his body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on it.  Thus, a successful quitter must overcome both this physical and psychological addiction to nicotine.

This addiction to nicotine can be explained by the fact that nicotine produces pleasurable feelings. These feelings induce a smoker to want to smoke more. At the same time, nicotine also acts as a depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. The body, particularly the nervous system, learns to adapt to nicotine, thereby causing smokers to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke, and hence the amount of nicotine in their blood. This would, in time, help a smoker to develop a tolerance to the substance, which in turn leads to an increase in consumption of cigarettes.

How to Say No to Nicotine

Unfortunately for a smoker, nicotine is not easily excreted out of the body. This is because of various factors which also affect a person’s metabolism. Generally, a person who smokes will have nicotine or its by-products present in his body for about three to four days after stopping its intake.  Thus, the longer it stays in the body, the easier it is for the body to get used to the pleasurable feelings it brings, and the harder it would be for a smoker to let go.

There are several ways to quit smoking and say goodbye to nicotine. You can opt for healthier alternatives, seek help from successful quitters, or consult with experts from a reliable California rehabilitation facility. For more information, visit http://www.paxhouse.org/CA_Drug_Treatment.html.