The power point is part of a workplace smoking cessation program designed by Lifestage, Inc., which educates participants about the process of change, the neuroscience of addiction, and ways to ease the difficulties involved with change.

1. Smoking cessation programs
Knowledge is power

2. Change takes courage
Stress levels may be Smoking cessation classes
highest during the first provide techniques, tools,
two weeks after quitting. and resources for support
that can:
During the first few weeks • Make cravings more
of quitting, even a small manageable
stressor can lead to the • Support the transition to a
new identity as a non-
urge to smoke.
smoker

3. Nicotine Is Special
• Nicotine is the all-time addictive drug of choice because so many people
use it in so many different ways: to wake up, to get to sleep, to de-stress,
to get energy, to relax.
• There are eight patented ways to increase nicotine content by adding it to
the tobacco after it's harvested.
• Five of them work to add nicotine to filters and wrappers.
• Another 12 are used to develop advanced technology to manipulate
nicotine levels and develop new chemical variants.
Smoking is one of the few drugs that is easily woven into daily routines.

4. Why smoking behavior is hard to
change: its all in our head
Newly-abstinent smokers were shown visual cues
associated with smoking while their brain activity
was studied using neuro-imaging;
The visual cues activated the area of the brain
responsible for automatic responses- learning
habits or things we do by rote, like riding a bike or
brushing our teeth.
Duke University Medical Center (2009, January 7). Why Smokers Struggle To Quit: New Findings. ScienceDaily.
Retrieved February 28, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com- /releases/2009/01/090105175324.htm

5. Brains gone wild
• Suppose you always have a cigarette with
coffee or tea – or always smoke when talking
on the telephone, or while driving.
• The repeated pattern of behavior trains your
brain to link these two activities.
• Over time, it becomes very hard to do one
without the other.

6. Stress drives cravings.
Smoking perpetuates stress.

7. Long-term gain:
Success at quitting smoking
eases depressive symptoms
Recent studies show that breaking the cycle of
tobacco use to medicate negative feelings and
depression has benefits to mental as well as
physical health.
C. W. Kahler, N. S. Spillane, A. M. Busch, A. M. Leventhal. Time-Varying Smoking Abstinence Predicts Lower
Depressive Symptoms Following Smoking Cessation Treatment. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2010; DOI:
10.1093/ntr/ntq213

8. Short-term pain:
Getting through cravings is a challenge
Nicotine is a very a short-acting drug so it has to be
used repeatedly.
Using any substance repeatedly – especially to
manage emotional or psychological stress -
produces neural pathways that have a life of
their own.

9. The Neuroscience of Bonding

10. When smoking is bonded to other behavior
that behavior triggers cravings

11. 3 Brain Regions involved with nicotine
dependence and cravings
• BLUE: the thalamus, the brain region critical to one's ability to
calm down when stressed.
• RED: the striatum, a region implicated in the pleasure system
of the brain.
• GREEN: the anterior cingulate cortex, a region vital to self-
control and concentration.
Credit: Image courtesy of Duke University Medical Center

12. Help for the craving brain
The thalamus - critical to one's ability to calm down
when stressed responds to:
• Hypnotherapy
• Mindfulness Techniques, e.g. yoga, meditation
• Anti-depressant medications
• Herbal combinations
• Acupuncture
• Exercise

13. The striatum deals with systems of the brain
associated with pleasure/rewards
• Creative experiences – music, comedy, art,
writing,
• Fun!!!
• Exercise
• Massage
• Positive social interactions
• Food
•

14. The anterior cingulate cortex: self-
control and concentration
• Activities that occupy the hands, e.g. knitting,
crafts, playing a musical instrument
• Cognitive shifts: locating one’s identity as a non-
smoker and the relationships that support it
• Recognizing triggers and organizing ways to avoid
them
• Cognitive planning – consciously replacing a
smoking-related behavior with a different
behavior

15. How to break a “smoking bond” before
you quit: an example from NY Quits
• Instead of having a cigarette with your coffee or tea, have it
before or after,
• Slowly add a couple of minutes between them over the
next several days.
• Set a goal to wait 15 minutes between your cigarette and
your drink.
• Drink your coffee or tea in a place where you don’t usually
smoke, or vice-versa.
• If you drink coffee or tea with caffeine, you may want to
gradually reduce the amount of caffeine you consume by
switching to decaf. Feeling “jittery” is a common side effect
of quitting smoking. If you add caffeine the side effect may
be a bit worse.

16. The anterior cingulate cortex, a region
vital to self-control and concentration
Cognitive shifts – locating a “non-smoker”
identity and relationships that support it
Social support, e.g. Nicotine Anonymous
Knitting, crafts, playing an instrument

17. Breaking the “smoking bond” after you
quit: an example From NY Quits
• Hold your cup in the hand where you used to hold a
cigarette
• Keep your hands busy with a doodle pad, crossword puzzle,
newspaper, to-do list or dunk low-fat cookies into your tea
or coffee.
• Between sips, take deep breaths and savor the aroma of
the coffee or tea.
• Don’t sit in the same seat or the same room where you
used to sit when you were smoking.
• Stand up and drink your tea or coffee quickly and then go
for a walk.
• Call a relative or friend or the NYS Smokers’ Quitline for
encouragement.

18. What happens when we quit
Within 20 minutes Within 48 hours
• Blood Pressure returns to • Sense of smell and taste
normal. improve.
• Heartbeat stabilizes. • Chances of heart attack
Within 8 hours decrease.
• Oxygen level in your Within 3 months
blood increases. • Circulation improves.
• Mucus begins to clear out • Immune system
of your lungs making improves.
breathing easier. • Possible savings of over
*$400.

19. What happens when we quit
Within 9 months 1 year
• Sinus congestion, • Risk of dying from a heart
attack is cut in half.
wheezing, shortness of • Possible savings of over $1,600
breath and phlegm (for a pack-a-day smoker at
production decreases. $4.50 per pack)
• Lung Function 5 years
improves. • Stroke risk is reduced to the
same level as a non-smoker.
• 10 years
• The chances of getting lung
cancer are cut in half

20. Successful wellness programs respond to people
where they are
Change can make a person
feel like a fish out of water.
Lifestage designs wellness programs that match
participants’ expressed degree of readiness to
change.

21. 496 Smithtown Bypass Suite 202
Smithtown NY 11787 631-366-4265
lifestage_2000@yahoo.com
Contact us for a free consultation
631-366-4265 www.lifestage.org
Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP &
Nicholas Wolff, LCSW, BCD, TEP