Smoking Cessation
Quit Smoking? Support is Available!
If you're thinking about trying to quit or cut back on your use of tobacco, health and counseling services (HCS) offers a number of resources to support you in successfully achieving your goals.
Using counseling support or quit-smoking medications can more than double your chances to quit for good!
Call 413559.5458 or stop by health and counseling to schedule an appointment.
- Quit-Smoking Counseling is available and free for all students from the medical providers at HCS.
- Counseling Services: Many students smoke because they are stressed out, anxious, or depressed. Psychotherapists at HCS work with students on healthy coping skills and stress management.
- Quit-Smoking Medications (OTC and prescription) are free for all students: Through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) public and private health plans are required to cover all seven FDA-approved quit smoking medications. You will need a prescription from a health care provider (even for OTC products), and can get no-cost coverage for up to two 90 day supplies of quit smoking medication per year. This includes over-the-counter nicotine replacement patches, gum, lozenges, OR prescriptions medications like Chantix, bupropion, nicotine nasal sprays, and inhalers. Health and counseling services medical providers work with students to prescribe the medication or combination that will lead to quitting most successfully. .
- Off Campus Resources: HCS medical and mental health staff help connect students with additional professional help off campus such as nutrition counseling, intensive psychotherapy, or psychiatry services. Staff will work with you to find services that are covered by your health insurance and are affordable.
- Smartphone Apps to Help You Quit!
Tips to Help You Quit or Cut Back
- Set a quit (or cut back) date and make a commitment to stick to it.
- Identify your motivations for quitting/cutting back and frequently remind yourself of them (leave yourself notes, etc).
- Get support from others … maybe a quitting buddy?
- Avoid being around people who are smoking, or ask them not to smoke around you.
- Know what situations trigger cravings, and actively plan how to avoid or deal with these situations.
- Give yourself rewards for not smoking.
- Take care of yourself: sleep, eat well, and exercise.
Physiological Effects of Quitting Smoking
- Within 20 minutes, the heart rate slows
- Within 12 hours, carbon monoxide in blood returns to normal level
- Within 2 weeks to 3 months, lung functions improve and risk of heart attacks declines
- Within 1 to 9 months, coughing and shortness of breath are reduced
- Within 1 year, the risk of a heart attack is half that of a smoker's
- Within 5-15 years, the risk of stroke is the same as a non-smoker
- Within 10 years, the risk of lung cancer is half that of a smoker's
- Within 15 years, the risk of a heart attack equals a non-smoker's