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Pulling together

From the archive, first published Tuesday 2nd Sep 2003.

Giving up an addiction is never easy - especially if you are going it alone. Strength in numbers is the key, according to the latest group from New Forest Quitters stop smoking service. EMMA JOSEPH finds out more...

WITH smoking banned in more and more public places, there has never been a better time to kick the habit. But, if you have been a smoker for as long as you can remember, it's not always that simple.

There are a number of different methods currently available to people trying to give up cigarettes, including special chewing gum, patches and even medication.

While some have the strength and willpower to be able to quit on their own, many others will need a bit more help and support.

And that is where Quitters comes in.

The free NHS service is provided for people who want to stop smoking and features a team of advisers ready to offer information and support.

New Forest Quitters, which covers the New Forest Primary Care Trust area, has a group of advisers working at different locations across the area to run groups and offer individual support.

Group sessions run for seven weeks and are available during the day and early evening, while individual sessions last for four to six weeks.

Wendy Bennett, health promotion officer for New Forest PCT, runs the group at the West Totton Community Centre.

She explains why the programme is so successful.

"I think it's because the people who use it get help from each other," she said.

"They can bounce ideas off each other and they know they're not alone.

"We make the group as fun as we can - there are no hard and fast rules. And if they don't come, I ring them up and just ask them if they're okay.

"We talk about the stress and how they're going to cope with things and give them alternatives. It's just being there to help them.

"It's good because they offer each other support and someone said to me that they didn't want to give in and let anybody else down, so it encourages them to keep going."

Members of the group are offered a choice of different methods to stop smoking, according to which works best for them.

Some choose gum or patches, a few manage on pure willpower, and others will take zyban medication.

Whatever method you choose, a little determination is always needed.

Wendy said: "It's no good coming to the group if you don't want to quit yourself."

CASE STUDIES:

Two people who really did want to quit were Paul and Jean, who have both successfully completed the seven-week group programme with New Forest Quitters.

Paul, a 31-year-old lorry driver from Briarscroft Avenue in Calmore, started smoking when he was 14.

He was persuaded to go to the group by his neighbours, who also wanted to kick their habit

He said: "I was on 40 fags a day and it was costing me £10 a day. I tried the inhaler, then the patches and then the gum.

"But I looked at the money side - it was £70 a week I was spending on fags. So I did it because of that.

"I've got a kid on the way, too, and that advert with the kids, where you see smoke coming out of their mouths, that did me as well.

"The first week is the hardest because you see people smoking everywhere. You get on edge because it's a habit, but once you break the habit it's fine.

"I'm on the tablets now and they make you feel really rough if you try and smoke. But I've not been bad tempered at all or anything. I've had no side-effects.

"I feel more with it and alert because I was tired all the time. During the week as well, you think more positively and I'm alert.

"I've started going to the gym and I find it easier. It's been 17 days now and I just feel better. I wake up and I'm not wheezy or anything.

"It's a competitive group because you see other people doing it and you think `if they can do it, I can do it'.

"It's really an achievement."

Jean, a 42-year-old accounts clerk from West Totton, has smoked for the last 20 years.

She said: "I decided it was becoming too anti-social. It was very stressful with all the health adverts and everything like that. I decided it was just becoming too much.

"I've tried before by myself and obviously not succeeded. I just decided that if I had somebody keeping an eye on me I wouldn't want to shame myself and I would give it a really good go. And I have.

"I think having done so long, when you look at it in terms of days and hours and weeks, it would be an awful shame just to pick up a cigarette. And I've learned the lesson not to just have one.

"I do look at people with them and I think `mmmm', but I don't really want one.

"It does come to mind what if I was faced with a really stressful situation. I would hope I wouldn't, but you can't tell.

"I would definitely recommend it because I thought I would find it really hard giving up and it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be."

To find out more about Quitters, or to get help and support with giving up smoking, call 01425 482774.

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