Free Help For Smokers Who Want To Quit

There is good news for smokers looking to quit.

(NAPSA)-If quitting smoking has become a habit, you’re not alone. A recent study found that more than 51 percent of surveyed smokers say they will or may try to quit in 2006, and nearly all of them (86 percent) have tried to quit before.

The good news is that smokers who try and try again to quit can learn what works and what doesn’t. This will actually increase their chances of quitting. Even better news is that for the more than half of smokers who want to quit, a program called Committed Quitters, originally an online behavioral support program available only to people who purchased NicoDerm CQ, is now being offered free.

Committed Quitters features easily accessible and highly individualized support. Participants enroll by answering an in-depth online interview that gathers information about their habits, behaviors and motivations for smoking and quitting. Arecent study found that smokers using the online Committed Quitters program with NicoDerm CQ increased their chances of success by more than 28 percent compared to smokers trying to quit using the same product and non-individualized support.

“We now have a great deal of evidence about what works and what doesn’t when attempting to quit,” said Dr. Vic Strecher, smoking cessation expert at the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We know that what works the best is a combination of specific approved medications meant for stopping smoking and behavioral support, such as Committed Quitters.”

For those looking to quit, Dr. Strecher offers these tips:

• Think about the reasons you smoke-It will give you a clearer path to quitting. Does smoking relieve stress? Is it a large part of your social life?

• Get your head in the gameDr. Strecher recommends that clients get support products like nicotine replacement therapy and online help before they quit, so they can read up on materials before they’re under the pressure of quitting. Not only does this help raise consciousness about the patterns of smoking, but it gives them the tools they’ll need when they make the decision to quit for good.

• Check out online support services-The free online Committed Quitters program provides support and encouragement to help you break your behavioral and psychological link to cigarettes, and is proven effective in helping smokers quit.

• Get yourself physically ready -Start walking, take in more fluids, and get plenty of rest.

• Put a support system in place -Fight the urge to keep your plans to yourself and enlist the help of family and friends. You can also rely on online support programs like the ones at Committed Quitters, which has been proven more effective in helping smokers quit.

To learn more about how to prepare yourself to quit smoking, visit www.committedquitters. com.