TAKING CONTROL: Highly emotional situations
Like stress, these can be big triggers to smoke:
- A bad fight or argument
- A financial setback
- Getting bad news
- Losing someone or something important to you
- A relationship break-up
- Any other highly emotional situation
Situations like these can be very difficult to predict. But it's a good idea to consider what you would do if something like this happened to you. You might want to think back to a similar situation in your past, and imagine yourself going through it now, without smoking.
What can you do if you find yourself in a highly emotional situation?
- Allow yourself to feel whatever emotions come up.
- Talk with someone you trust about how you feel.
- Write in a journal.
- Focus on what you need to do to work through the situation.
- If you're tempted to smoke, ask yourself, "What do I expect to get from a cigarette?" Whatever the need is, find some other way to satisfy it. A cigarette won't make the problem go away. It could make it worse, though-because then you'd have to get back on track with quitting, on top of dealing with the problem itself. It may feel awkward not to smoke at a time like this, but with time it will become more natural.
On your Quit Day, put your plan into action.
Use your strategies. Evaluate how well they work and revise as needed. Plan for any new triggers, and use the new plan. Reward yourself.
Be careful around smokers and when drinking alcohol.
In the first couple of weeks, avoid both situations when possible. Otherwise, make sure you have a plan so you won't smoke.
Manage your stress.
Stress can be a big trigger, so it's important to learn ways to manage it.
SEE THE HELPLINE FACT SHEET: Stress
Watch out for highly emotional situations.
These are triggers that can catch you off guard. Plan ahead so you're prepared.
