Smoking harms people not only actively but passively as well. The primary cause for the habit of smoking is considered to be stress, but it increases people’s susceptibility of and even leads to plenty of health hazards if one has been smoking for long. Researchers have suggested some effective methods for smoking cessation to help people quit the habit of tobacco consumption. Here’s how to effectively quit this habit and ensure a speedy recovery.

Set a quit date
One must mark the calendar, tell friends and family about the date picked, and make up their mind to quit smoking completely on that date. Also, they should prepare to handle any withdrawal symptoms, identify what triggers the craving to smoke, and come up with strategies to deal with those triggers. Start working out to lose weight, and find healthy distractions to keep their hands and mind busy.

Go “cold turkey”
One of the effective methods for smoking cessation is to reduce smoking gradually over a period of a couple of weeks, or one could go cold turkey and quit it at once on the set date. A research conducted shows that the cold turkey method was much more effective than the gradual reduction.

Ask for support
Although a lot of people are successful in quitting smoking on their own, many need additional support. There are several ways to get this support, from counselors to mobile apps and telephone conversations. Some counseling programs also provide free nicotine patches, and several countries also have government websites that help people quit the habit.

Opt for treatment
Nowadays, several medical treatments are available as effective methods for smoking cessation, including nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline, or bupropion, combined with counseling. These medications may also help deal with withdrawal symptoms, cravings, and other side effects, and they can be used when one has not quit smoking completely. Varenicline and bupropion take some time to work, so they should be started several weeks in advance as prescribed by the doctor:

• Nicotine replacement therapy
  This doubles the quitting rate, helps deal with withdrawal symptoms and craving, and can be tapered off as the withdrawal symptoms alleviate. The different versions available include over-the-counter or prescription: lozenges, gums, patches, nasal spray, and inhaler. The highest dose patch must be used if one smokes more than 10 cigarettes a day. The patch delivers via the skin over 24 hours and can be removed at bedtime.
• Varenicline (Chantix)
  Varenicline binds to nicotine receptors in the body, turning them partly on to lessen withdrawal symptoms and also blocking them from the nicotine in cigarettes, making smoking less pleasurable.
• Bupropion
  Bupropion works on the hormones of the brain and minimizes the initial weight gain with smoking cessation. Long-term treatment can also prevent relapse in those who have quit the habit, but it cannot be used by those with a history of seizure disorders.