Quit smoking at last. But how? The USZ and LUNGE ZÜRICH offer support in quitting smoking in a joint consultation.
A good 60 percent of smokers would like to quit, a quarter of whom have tried at least once in the past year. Many smokers resolve to quit smoking from “one hundred to zero”, i.e. immediately and completely. For some, radical withdrawal works without support, others achieve their goal better by reducing slowly. There are many methods and ways to stop smoking, as well as various support services. Finding the right recipe for you is crucial for lasting success. Individual stop smoking advice can help.
The Clinic for Pneumology at the USZ and LUNGE ZÜRICH are jointly offering a special consultation for smokers who want to finally give up tobacco. In the stop smoking advice session, they receive information and work with a professional advisor to develop an individually tailored action plan to prepare, implement and maintain their stop smoking. This involves five face-to-face and one telephone consultation with a stop-smoking advisor and a doctor. The costs of the consultation can be billed directly to the health insurance company.
Psychological and medical help in a team
Counseling is provided by an experienced team and is primarily aimed at smokers who need professional health psychology and medical support in quitting, e.g. because they are already being treated for a lung disease or other pre-existing conditions or because previous attempts to stop smoking have been unsuccessful. There are also smokers who, in addition to psychological counseling, need or would like medication support to quit smoking. This is because addiction has a psychological and physical component that must be taken into account in order to successfully stop smoking.
Recognizing patterns and breaking habits
The most important thing is the will to quit and to change your behavior permanently. Psychological counseling is therefore the top priority. When and in what situations does someone smoke? What patterns and habits are recognizable and how can they be used to quit? If someone smokes a cigarette first thing in the morning, he or she can train themselves to delay that first cigarette for as long as possible. Anyone who always combines coffee and smoking should try out whether the coffee tastes good without a cigarette, or whether there is an alternative to break the habit. The environment is also important; if the partner continues to smoke, it is difficult to stop. Therefore, another tip is to tackle quitting smoking together.
Setting a start date helps
Whether quietly on your own, with your partner or a friend as a “coach” or in exchange with “fellow sufferers”: basically everything that supports and promotes motivation is useful. Setting a fixed start date has also proven to be a good idea; during counseling at the USZ, a quit date is therefore always set together to start the smoking cessation process. And sometimes intermediate goals also lead to quitting smoking.
If it doesn’t work with the best will in the world
Most smokers first try it without nicotine replacement. Nicotine replacement therapy can be helpful against the physical addiction or withdrawal symptoms. Proven active ingredients can be used as patches, chewing gum, mouth sprays, inhalers or tablets. Which form and which combination will be decided together during the consultation, depending on the smoker’s state of health, preferences and previous experience. E-cigarettes or heated tobacco are not used because they are not medical products and can have health disadvantages.
Stick with it even in the event of relapses
Of those who have undergone counseling and received medication support, around 25 to 30 percent are permanently smoke-free after one year. So setbacks are not uncommon and quitting is difficult for many. It is important to understand why you smoked again so that you can react differently next time. It is definitely worth sticking with it. Every cigarette less is a gain for your health. The health benefits of quitting smoking are numerous. And it is not uncommon for the team to hear from ex-smokers that it was easier than they originally thought!
