Chapter Five

What Does it Mean To Be In Recovery?

There are five stages to nicotine addiction. There are also five stages of recovery from the illness. Most new nonsmokers return to smoking because they are unaware of the pitfalls that lie ahead of them.

If you understand what is going to happen to you when you stop, if you know that what is happening is normal under the circumstances, and if you possess the skills to deal with those issues, you will not only stop smoking, you will stay stopped.

With this knowledge, you will be able to develop new healthy coping skills to deal with life on life’s terms without the use of a drug.

Most smokers have smoked for years and expect to be able to stop with little or no pain. We all want the easy quick-fix;unfortunately, there are symptoms of recovery that are not always pleasant. Moreover, you cannot smoke for years and expect the addiction to go away overnight. Eighty to ninety percent of smokers who try to stop without accurate information relapse within one year.

Another concern in early recovery is not to exchange one addiction for another. For example, some of the obsessive-compulsive behavior’s ex-smokers tend to pick up are:overeating, caffeine abuse, gambling, alcohol abuse, marijuana use, spending too much money, taking tranquilizers, oversleeping, obsessive working and excessive exercising.

Cigarettes are an integral part of a smoker’s life. When the addict stops smoking, it is like losing an old friend. When you take something, this important out of your life, there is an emptiness or void that needs to be filled. For the addict, life revolves around smoking. Filling that void left by this loss with new healthy coping skills is what is meant by beingIn-Recovery.

There are five stages of recovery from Nicotine Addiction.” These stages represent the transition from smoker to nonsmoker. Having this knowledge about what the future holds will greatly reduce the difficulty of your recovery and will help you prevent relapse. When asked what helped the most with their recovery, people said,the five stages of recovery. Feel free to copy these stages and put them on your refrigerator door.

The Five Stages of Recovery

Fear Stage:Anticipation of loss of cigarettes; feels threatened and insecure; stops smoking and has fear due to a chemical imbalance; fear of failure; fear of success; fear of withdrawal; fear of emotions; fear from anxiety or panic attacks; fear of going crazy or coming apart; fear from old unresolved issues surfacing.

The fear stage keeps many smokers hooked until death. The closer the smoker gets to doing something about his or her smoking,