7 Hardest Things About Quitting Smoking

Everyone knows quitting smoking is tough, but there are all kinds of unexpected and aggravating aspects of the process that people might not think about. But as well as your health, you'll be saving the environment too.  Below we've gathered up 7 of the most difficult things about quitting smoking.

Crankiness - It's no secret that giving up traditional cigarettes makes a person irritable. Unfortunately, you’ll never understand just how irritable until you go through it. The nice lady at the coffee shop who always smiles and says hello when you order? You’ll want to throw that coffee in her face. Your co-worker who asks you if you caught the football match on TV this weekend? You’ll want to burn his cubicle to the ground.  Giving up smoking will make you feel like a different person at times, and that new person is mean.

You’ll suddenly notice that smoking is everywhere – Nothing triggers a craving for cigs like seeing someone else doing it. If you’re trying to quit, you’ll gain an acute awareness of cigarettes wherever they pop up. Want to go to a bar? Good luck on walking past the cluster of smokers outside of it. Want to watch any old movie? Nobody smoked like old Hollywood. Stopping into the store for a soda? It’s impossible to avoid the rows of cigarette packs glistening behind the counter.

You know a cigarette is all it takes to feel better – This is possibly the hardest part of quitting. For all the triggers, side effects and frustrations you feel, you know that just a few drags of a cigarette will cure what ails you. However, it's important to remember that a few drags lead to many, and temporary relief is nothing compared to the way you’ll feel once you’ve given up smoking for good.

Smoking is a constant companion  - Once you quit smoking, all of your usual activities will seem strange without it. Until you try to give them up, you won’t realise how engrained cigarettes were in your day-to-day life. Drinking a cup of coffee, driving a car, talking on the phone. All of these things might feel weird and unsatisfying without cigarettes.

Nervous fidgeting – Smoking is not only addictive because of the chemicals inside cigarettes, but because it gets you used to doing something with your mouth and hands on a regular basis. Without them, you won't know what to do with yourself at times and it can get a bit maddening.

It’s easy to rationalise – You went for a run? Reward yourself with a cigarette. Got a compliment from your boss? Cigarette. Paid your bills? Cigarette. When you’re trying to quit, your brain will come up with all kinds of ways to convince you that you’ve “earned” a cigarette. Don’t listen, it’s just the cigarettes talking!

No one will get it – Unless a person has successfully quit smoking, they will not understand what your head and your body are going through, this can get annoying as you will hear people say things like It can’t be that hard, or just think of something else! Statements like those are some of the best ways to activate that aforementioned crankiness.