On This Page... We have been reorganizing our "Information for Smokers" page to help you find the information you are looking for quickly and easily. Please use the links at the top of this page. Below you can find helpful information on quitting, including information on: Developing a Motivation, Staying Stopped, Common Reasons for Quitting, and The Benefits of Quitting. We appreciate your comments on our features. These come from from authoritative sources including well-known magazines, newspapers and scientific journals.  Please send us information about any good articles you find. Developing a Motivation for Quitting Smoking If you do not already have good reasons to quit smoking, you can find plenty by reading this page and following the links to other websites below. Write down your reasons for wanting to quit. Writing down your reasons for quitting tobacco on paper will help you to find the motivation you need. Your "motivation list" may include either: 1. the bad things tobacco does that bother you, or, 2. the good things you will get when you stop using tobacco. Be realistic -- tobacco is a killer. Carry your list with you. Read it several times a day. If you want to quit smoking [or even if you don't], take time each day to think about quitting in the morning and evening. You will get the greatest benefit by taking 20 minutes twice a day to work through your reasons for quitting. Start several weeks before you intend to stop.   Staying Stopped Hypnosis will help you quit because it helps you put the power of your mind to work on the problem of quitting. Equally important to quitting is your ability to STAY QUIT! Resisting the urge to smoke again may depend on building strong motivations. Staying stopped may depend on your ability to think of reasons to stay smoke-free when tempted. Whenever tempted, stop and think about your original motivations for stopping and realize that you will have to go through quitting all over again! Just having to quit more than once should help you get motivated. ["I don't want to go through THAT again!"] According to our research, "Cheating during the first two weeks of withdrawal ... nearly guarantees smoking again in six months. In one study, nearly half of the people who did not cheat during the first two weeks were still not smoking after six months." To stay stopped, never take another puff, drag, draw, chew, pipe, or snuff.   Common Reasons for Quitting Smoking "I am tired of being controlled by cigarettes... Sometimes it seems that it's all I think about." "I'm 46 and I am already short of breath going up a flight of stairs! I don't want to have to use oxygen tanks just to get around." "I know logically that there is a real risk of cancer and breathing diseases. I don't want to go that way." "I got really bad bronchitis... it put me in the hospital. Can you believe when I got out the first thing I wanted to do was smoke?" "I don't like the impact on my kids. It's important to me that they do not grow up smokers." "I can't believe how expensive smoking is. At a pack a day, I am spending $150 per month." "It's getting to the point where you can't even find a place to smoke. I hate the way people look at me when they see me smoking." Smoking kills 440,000 Americans each year! That's more Americans each year than have died in any year of war we have ever had! More Americans than die from HIV, murder, suicide, alcohol, illicit drugs, and car accidents combined!   The Benefits of Quitting Within 20 minutes your blood pressure, pulse rate, and temperature of your extremities normalize. Within 8 hours oxygen levels increase to normal. Within 24 hours carbon monoxide is eliminated and risk of a sudden heart attack drops. In 48 hours nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell and taste begin to return to normal -- nicotine is eliminated. In 3 months, circulation improves and lung function increases 10 to 30%. In 9 months, energy increases and symptoms diminish -- cilia function normally. In 1 year, risk of heart disease is half that of someone still using tobacco. In 5 years, lung cancer death rate decreases by 50% compared to one pack/day smokers. In 10 years lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who never smoked, risk of stroke lowered, risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas all decrease.