Allen Carr is an Englishman who has managed to quit smoking after 30 years of nicotine addiction. He exposed his feelings about him in the book "An Easy Way to Quit Smoking", which quickly became a real bestseller.
With the proceeds of the sale of books translated into 70 languages of the world, Allen Carr, together with like-minded people, opens a series of clinics where former smokers help those who wish to overcome their passion forsmoke. By choosing a healthy lifestyle, the writer invented his way to easily quit smoking Allen Carr.
The main difference from accepted ways to quit smoking is smokers' awareness of why there is a need to smoke, what a person gets if he gives up the addiction. The author states that it is fundamentally wrong to consider nicotine addiction just a bad habit. Opponents are asked the question: why other habits can be easily abandoned, but that doesn't work with smoking. Although the signs accompanying the process are extremely unpleasant: a terrible smell from the mouth, an unpleasant aftertaste after smoking a cigarette, obvious damage to health, as well as considerable material costs, but people continue to indulge in their passion.
Why do people smoke
The writer says that the reason for the unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking is a deformation of the human psyche, as a result of which the addict begins to find excuses for the reason of smoking. The drug addict indefinitely postpones the date of definitive abandonment of the habit: tomorrow, from Monday, in a month, then sometimes, but not now.
A person's fear of the need to change their usual lifestyle makes it difficult to end nicotine addiction today. A list of the most frequent expectations a smoker uses to justify himself is presented:
- quitting smoking will lead to health problems;
- gain weight without cigarettes;
- smoking eliminates stress, has a calming effect;
- nicotine enhances the taste of food;
- the cigarette helps communication, liberation.
In fact, the opposite is true. A person falls into the bondage of nicotine addiction, which he does not have the strength to give up. How tobacco smoke inhalation affects a person:
- destroys the body, constantly inhaling nicotine. If a dose of a substance contained in a single cigarette is injected into a vein, the poison will instantly kill the person. With smoking, nicotine enters the body in smaller quantities, but it also has a lethal effect only at a slower rate;
- Nicotine reduces appetite, interferes with the absorption of nutrients. By quitting smoking, many feel a greater sense of hunger, which they rush to satisfy. Weight gain occurs when trying to replace smoking habit with food, eating excessively sweet and fatty foods;
- by interrupting the work of the whole organism, smoking also destroys the nervous system, increasing the likelihood of stressful situations. A vicious circle is discovered: nicotine contributes to the emergence of nervous tension and, to avoid it, another cigarette is smoked;
- the effects of tobacco smoke on the taste buds and smell are negative and destructive. Over time, a smoker simply cannot fully appreciate the taste of the dish;
- in a non-smoking establishment, puffs of smoke from a lit cigarette cause discomfort and embarrassment. The smoker's breath is perceived as the stench of an overflowing ashtray. Clothes that have absorbed the smell of smoke are unpleasant to others.
The smoker's fears are illusory. A full assessment of your disappointment, an understanding of nicotine addiction, the desire to move to a healthy lifestyle is the main condition for quitting smoking on your own.
Allen Carr advises against using the expression “quit smoking”, as it is associated with the victim of a person coming out of addiction, causing the opposite effect.
How nicotine addiction manifests itself
When a person lights a cigarette for the first time, he does not assume that he will become addicted to it for the rest of his life. The body, sensing a mortal danger, resists coughing, tearing, shortness of breath.
The urge to smoke arises as soon as the negative reaction of the body is overcome. Allen Carr calls incipient addiction a kind of nicotine trap, the device of which fully contributes to keeping the person trapped for as long as possible. The large manufacturers of tobacco products and various smoking accessories are financially interested in millions of drug addicts to bring them fabulous income through the loss of health and ruined life.
Nicotine is an addictive drug in record time. When smoking a cigarette, each puff represents a mini dose of the narcotic. The poison enters the bloodstream and the brain, causing a lack of oxygen. The effect of the poisonous substance passes after a few minutes or hours, so a new portion is needed. The dosage must be gradually increased to achieve the desired state.
It also contributes to the addiction to smoking, the surrounding drug addicts, who justify their habit with illusory reasons: pleasure, fashion, prestige.
A person from childhood on a subconscious level summarizes the hidden advertising of tobacco and smoking products:
- addicted parents who smoke with children;
- movie characters with a cigarette in their mouth, watching from movies and TV screens;
- billboards advertising famous tobacco brands;
- plays sports with cigarette manufacturers' billboards;
- beautiful packaging of tobacco products, accessories (ashtrays, lighters, mouthpieces, pipes).
Medical anti-advertising does not produce the desired effect, printing terrible images of the consequences of smoking on cigarette packets. Young people consider the moment of the onset of the consequences to be a distant future, especially since not all smokers get lung cancer or tuberculosis.
Fundamentals of the method
Allen Carr's easiest way to quit smokingis to create the joyful atmosphere a person feels after being completely cured of a terminal illness. Inspired by happiness, a person can overcome all the difficulties associated with the final decision to quit smoking. This is a fundamentally new approach to the nicotine addiction problem. After a short time, the former smoker completely switches to a healthy lifestyle, the craving for nicotine and smoking no longer arise.
The methodology is based on a more detailed examination of the smoking process:
- Realize that nicotine addiction brings no pleasure.
- The person understands that he is, in fact, a real addict.
- Every cigarette for the patient's money helps to destroy his body and his soul.
- Nobody can force a person to become a drug addict. This decision is up to each smoker personally.
- Everyone understands perfectly well that smoking is addictive. After all, no parent wants their children to become addicted to nicotine.
- It is recommended that you maximize your desire to quit smoking, change your environment and do what you love.
You cannot end addiction by using a weaker drug. Therefore, the use of nicotine patches, chewing gum, pills is of low efficiency.
As a result of any addiction, a person wants to feel pleasure, but what a smoker strives for, pumping poison into his body with every cigarette, ordinary people get without any effort:
- expectation of joy from every day lived;
- good night's rest;
- lack of guilt for their actions;
- happiness and well-being;
- material savings.
Of course, Allen Carr's method is not for everyone. 6% of smokers who come to clinics cannot overcome their addiction. But don't give up. If one method fails, you need to find another, a third, so as not to give up until complete victory.