How I quit chewing tobacco and how you can too
Eighteen days ago I quit chewing tobacco (Copenhagen, to be specific) after having been a regular, daily user for 20+ years. I’ve used a combination of toothpicks, gum, water, mediation, exercise, and some relaxation techniques.
How the addictive mind works
I didn’t think I could ever quit. I convinced myself that if I quit, I would have a heart attack and die or something crazy like that. I convinced myself that I was different, that I was more addicted than other people. That my addiction was special. It’s crazy how the addictive mind tricks you into thinking such crazy thoughts.
I didn’t plan my quit date for weeks or months. I didn’t work on any fancy strategies or tactics. I just woke up on January 5th and decided I wouldn’t dip that day. And I didn’t. January 5, 2017 was the first full day I went without chewing tobacco in as long as I can remember. I gained a tiny speck of confidence. I began to have some hope.
Then I went another day. Then another. Then suddenly it was a week. Then two weeks.
On the anniversary of the second week I posted a short post on Facebook about how I had reached an important milestone. I felt really uncomfortable broadcasting my personal weakness to my friends (and the public) on such a visible channel. I drafted the message but was afraid to post it. But I posted my message anyway.
The response was amazing. I had more likes and comments on that one little post, a post without photos, than anything I’d ever put up on Facebook, by a significant margin. The reactions made me happy. Joyful. People really cheer you on when you show you aren’t perfect. When you show some vulnerability. I’ve always been one of those people who think that most human beings are good people, and this confirmed my bias towards goodness.
I’m not sure I’ll make it the rest of my life. But I’m going to try. And if I slip up at some point in the future, then at least now I’ll know I can quit. I’ve proven it to myself.
What I learned
Here’s something I learned in the process. I am fully aware of the negative consequences of tobacco use. Plenty of people have told me plenty of bad things about what could happy if I didn’t stop, most of which involved a painful death or some other god-awful scenario. I guess this is the “scared straight” approach.
That approach does not work on some people. It didn’t work with me. In fact, thinking those terrible thoughts made me want to chew tobacco even more. Filling my brain with negative thoughts made quitting harder.
I am keenly interested in health, fitness, diet, exercise, biohacking, etc etc. What has worked for me (so far, at least) is to observe all of the positive consequences of not dipping. And for me the most positive part of quitting has been a noticeable and significant drop in my baseline anxiety levels. I’ve suffered some bouts of panic attacks and elevated anxiety throughout my mid-30s and early 40s. I’ve used various methods to tame my anxiety, some of which worked, some of which didn’t.
I haven’t had any anxiety at all since I quit dipping. My anxiety immediately went away. Tobacco was clearly causing much of my elevated anxiety attacks. The moment I stopped the anxiety stopped too. That realization was powerful for me.
You can quit
I’m writing this post for anyone else who finds themselves addicted to something they want to quit who thinks the same way I did. If you think can’t quit, that you are more addicted than anyone else, that you are somehow special or different, I am here to tell you that I thought the same thoughts. My thoughts were powerful. They controlled me. I was overwhelmingly convinced that I simply could not do it, so why try?
I was wrong. And if you think you can’t quit, you’re wrong too. You can quit. I promise.
