Hazelden provides smoking cessation tips

Center City, Minn., Sept. 17, 2007 -- The Minnesota statewide smoking ban will take effect on Oct. 1, causing many people across the state to consider a personal decision to stop smoking. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, more than 800,000 Minnesotans smoke, and quitting is most often a challenge.

It's a challenge because "smoking is an addictive process with a lot of daily rituals that are hard to break," said Barry McMillen, a national expert on smoking cessation and manager of Hazelden's smoking cessation program, Your Next Step, one of the few residential programs in the country, and the only one that uses a Twelve Step program. McMillen offers these tips for people who want to quit smoking:

1. Get some help! You don't have to do it on your own or fail numerous times before achieving success. Find a person or an organization that knows about tobacco addiction and recovery and get help.
2. Investigate the cost of smoking. Smoking costs much more than just the cost of cigarettes. How has your smoking affected you physically and emotionally, as well as those around you? Think about the people, places and things you avoid so that you can smoke.
3. Set a quit date and prepare for success. Many attempts to stop smoking are doomed from the start because of lack of planning. Educate yourself on how to stop smoking effectively and the advantages of being smoke-free. If possible, join others in a group process to give you a powerful advantage.
4. Find out what "tobacco recovery" means and what it can do for you. One of the most successful ways to stop using and live tobacco free is a Twelve Step process. Yes, the Twelve Steps work for recovery from tobacco addiction, too!

"Think 'One Day at a Time,'" McMillen said. "The idea of quitting forever can sound impossible or too difficult to even bother. But you can handle quitting smoking for a 24-hour period – and if that sounds too challenging, you can focus on 'one hour at a time.'"

McMillen recounted the story of one person who cycled through a number of strategies to quit smoking on her own, including cutting back, going cold turkey and using nicotine gum and lozenges. She even quit smoking for six months, but then started up again and smoked for nearly a decade.  What worked for her, finally, was asking for help and completing the Your Next Step residential program.  According to McMillen, some smokers find it helps the quitting process if they can get away, at least temporarily, from the normal daily pressures and routines.

McMillen also encourages smokers to educate themselves about the impact of smoking on multiple levels: how it affects the body, how it affects one's mental state, how it affects family and friends, and how it affects the workplace.

About Your Next Step
Hazelden has been known for nearly 60 years for its recovery programs for people addicted to alcohol and other drugs, but it also has a smoking cessation program that has helped thousands of people. Hazelden's Your Next Step program uses a holistic mind-body-spirit approach and is the only seven-day residential program in the country that uses a Twelve Step, abstinence-based model to successfully help people quit smoking.

For more information on Hazelden's Your Next Step program, call 800-257-7810 or visit www.hazelden.org/quitsmoking.