Quarantine

[TimmyTee]

It will be good to have this to do while we are holed up, hiding from the Virus!

[LLapp]

It's refreshing to go someplace where I don't have to read the management's official statement about how our health is their top priority. All the Baron cares about is my puzzle addiction, and that's just fine.

[Likeitlots]

Quarantine had a bad effect on me, and I started smoking cigarettes during that time. Now, I'm struggling to quit and finding it really challenging. Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to stop?

[letfreedomring]

There are many types of “cures”, but if you convince yourself you want to be a non-smoker, you might succeed. I did. One day at a time. Good luck.

[skeeter]

Likeitlots, I smoked back in the 70s and quit cold turkey. It was the second hardest thing I've ever had to do, right after losing a loved one. One of my employees was a chain smoker and went the route of taking Zyban/bupropion/Wellbutrin, and he quit within a week! Never even wanted another cigarette. Best wishes to you in your quest.

[LLapp]

I once interviewed a team of smoking cessation counselors who were all ex-smokers themselves. Their key to successful smoking cessation was, first, to identify all of your “ritual“ cigarettes – for example, the cigarette after dinner, the cigarette while driving or during a traffic jam, the cigarette after putting the groceries away, the urgent cigarette to calm a super-tense moment, etc. And then, to choose just one of those ritual cigarettes to eliminate at a time, with a specific plan for what you will do instead. One counselor’s simplest example of an alternative plan was for the after-dinner cigarette: “I just pushed my chair back and stood up as soon as I was done eating, because if I lingered I would start into after-dinner talking which would trigger my hand to reach for a cigarette. So instead I would just leave the table.”