About the Book
"Stop Smoking" isn't like other books out there on the market. Addicts know the risks they take every time they inhale. They hear all the negative publicity and government warnings too. They may be smokers but they aren't stupid. What they want is tried and tested methods to help them stop. That's where Peter and Clive come in. In "Stop Smoking" they reveal: how to stop the chain reaction ("well I've had one so why not two..."); how to step out of the comfort zone; the point of needles - how acupuncture can help; whether patches, gum and nicotine replacement therapies really work; why keeping super busy keeps the addict at bay; hints on how to de-stress your life after you've given up. With the "52 Brilliant Ideas" series readers can enhance their existing skills with negligible investment of time or money and will substantially improve their performance over the course of a year. Each of the 52 chapters tackles a single aspect of the subject in an entertaining and lively way. At the end of each chapter is a "how did it go?" feature which allows readers to reflect on the lesson in a classical experiential learning pattern.
The tone of each book is personal and informal; readers will feel as thought they are having a one-to-one with their favourite coach.
Table of Contents:
Potential chapters - subject to change. 1. NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE The pleasures of smoking - let me count the ways. If it wasn't such fun to smoke nobody would do it. We need to celebrate why smoking lights up our lives... before we give up. 2. SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES Not me! My granny smoked 60 cigarettes a day and lived to 108. Never had a day's illness in her life. How easy to forget the 273 other smokers you know who died of heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema etc., etc... 3. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION Forget Saddam Hussein and his 45 minute missiles. Cigarettes are the big lie and the single most avoidable cause of death in the western world. Stay alive, stop smoking. Health, wealth and happiness can be yours. 4. WHAT'S YOUR POISON? A cigarette contains over 400 toxic chemicals. Line up for your deadly dose of poisons and see just what goes inside your body every time you light up. 5. CURSE SIR WALTER RALEIGH It's history lesson time. Cue good-looking intellectual waltzing around in front of televisual landscapes (use your imagination). Let's track back through the mists (or is that hazy smoke?) of time and find out how it all started. 6. TOBACCO BARONS Someone out there is getting very rich - at your expense - selling a deadly drug. Take a look at what's in it for the giant multi-nationals and the governments. 7. LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG Our heads are filled with a thousand images of how cool and sexy it is to smoke. Advertisers and movie makers know which buttons to press to turn us on. Here's how it works. 8. SUPERKINGS? Peer pressure when we're young can lead to a (short) life sentence of smoking. What makes us boys think that smoking makes us look older, more good-looking and more likely to get inside somebody's knickers? 9. DO YOU FEEL LUCKY TODAY, PUNK? Time for a squint at the statistics. We know that smoking's a risky business, but just how does it compare to other life-threatening activities. And how many of them would you volunteer for? 10. SMOKING GUN The ill effects of smoking take a while to become apparent. They sneak up on us. By the time we notice, the habit has given us cunning ways of ignoring them or making excuses. Know what I mean? 11. ASHES TO ASHES It's a dirty habit. Old fag ends, dropped ash, overflowing ashtrays, holes in your jumper, disgusting right? Clean up your act, cut down on housework, say goodble to yellow fingers and teeth. 12. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER If you die early or become disabled through smoking you're not the only victim. Don't to want to be around for your children, watch them grow up, get married, have children? No? Then stop reading now. 13. SLAVE TO THE WEED We have face up to it - we are drug addicts. But Nicotine, like many other drugs, is not a simple habit to crack. It's a collection of habits, each with its own battle to face. We line them up. 14. FIRST OF THE DAY Every day when you wake up cigarettes are right up there near the front of the queue crying: FEED ME, BABY! FEED ME! You want it simple - this is it! Never smoke your first cigarette of the day again... and you've stopped. 15. ONE FOR THE ROAD Funny isn't it? There's always time for just one more cigarette. Before you go out, last thing at night. Before you eat. After you eat. Even between courses if you're dedicated enough. Why do we do that? 16. TURN RIGHT OFF TOBACCO ROAD Belonging to the tribe is a very important human desire. Other smokers are just like us and revel in their status as social pariahs. We're different, we stand out in a crowd. So how do we become a lapsed smoker? 17. TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC Drugs can be fun. Queen Victoria took opium, Cary Grant tried LSD. So how come we've chosen a really amateur drug to help us plug into the light fantastic? 18. CHAIN REACTION One thing leads to another. For smokers never a truer word was spoken. Why settle for one when you can have two? 19. PLAYTIME Smoking is relaxing. Smoking helps you concentrate. Smoking keeps you awake. No substance on earth can do all these things at once, so how do we trick ourselves that it's the answer to all our problems? 20. SHARED AIR You're never alone with a Strand went the ad from the 1950s. (Ad became a cult, the brand bombed.) There almost always people around when you smoke. What are we doing to them when we blow out our hot air? 21. SMOKE-FREE ZONE The rest of the world is ganging up on smokers, refusing to share their space with us. What will our options be in this brave new world, where will we run, where will we hide? 22. SMOKING JACKET Smoke smells. Smells linger. Smoke smells linger longer. Non-smokers have built-in detectors. Clothes, hairs, furnishings, cars are all neon signs that say, "We smoke and we stink but we don't care!" 23. SMOKE AND MIRRORS Who is the fairest of them all? (Smokers need not apply.) Take a good, long look at yourself day by day and count the lines on your face as your habit turns you into a prematurely wrinkled prune. 24. HAVE YOU GOT A LIGHT, BOY? Cigarettes, their packets and the glittering array of fashion accessories make smoking a designer's paradise. Explore the allure of lighters, holders, cases and ashtrays that make smoking the complete experience. 25. MORE THAN A MATCH Life is made up of patterns and humans love to tread those comforting, familiar paths. Smoking's also a ritual, each cigarette a little cycle of actions we grow accustomed to. Step out of the comfort zone for a moment and investigate. 26. LIGHTER THAN AIR Oxygen is good for you. The entire planet agrees on this. It's full of really useful stuff your body needs. Are you getting enough? Smoke stops it dead. So why aren't you taking your fair share of air? 27. YOU DON''T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT TILL YOU LOSE IT Your health. Your heart, lungs, oesophagus (and voice), your legs etc. And without these, Your life. Now you do know, because we'll tell you just exactly what bits of you will stop working, wear out or fall off if you carry on smoking. 28. SMOKE SIGNALS A handy guide to the tell-tale signs that you're on your way out. If you haven't already set fire to yourself or your house with a smouldering dog-end, there are key rhings to look out which tell you your days may be numbered. 29. HEARTBEAT Coronary heart disease is Nicotine's biggest gift to you. Money may make the world go round, but more importantly, your heart makes your blood go round. No heart, no you. Don't smoke: have a heart. 30. AIR WAVES Breathing is a brilliant idea. Your lungs really like it and so does the rest of your body. Strangling yourself is a cheaper and swifter option than smoking. Let's hear it from the lungs. 31. NEW LUNGS FOR OLD Medical science can do miracles these days. So that's okay then, I can carry on abusing my body and by the time I need it they'll have come uo with some cunning cure. So, can we measure you for your wheelchair now, sir? 32. THIS DOG'S GOT TEETH Teeth are very useful. But without gums they fall out. Tobacco smoke stains your teeth. Yes, yes, we know that. You can brush your teeth clean, but you can't brush your lungs clean. Yes, yes, we know that, too. Smoking makes your gums rot away and all your teeth fall out. Really? 33. TAKE MY BREATH AWAY Say goodbye to those long, lingering French kisses. No more intimate moments where you whisper sweet nothings in her ear. Smoker's breath smells. Some smells are okay, this one's a turn off. 34. DO YOU SMOKE AFTER SEX? Pay attention to this one. Which you rather give up - sex or cigarettes? Sooner or later smoking is likely to win whether you like it or not. You'll be hard up without a hard on. Interested - read on! 35. DON'T MISS THE BUS We all slow down as we get older. Smoking, however, is likely to bring you to a standstill. Like the daleks you'll be buggered when it comes to stairs and you'll have to set off for everything three hours earlier because you'll be living life in slow motion. 36. MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND Cigarettes are money. Your money. Up in smoke. Taxes, life insurance, you the smoker pay through the nose for your habit. Become ill and the costs spiral. Look closely at the hidden costs of smoking. 37. WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Play the game of a lifetime (however short that may be). A thrill-packed adventure, stuffed with prizes from the holiday of a lifetime to a brand new car of your choice. But beware the booby prizes (only for boobies who smoke). 38. DUTY FREE Holiday madness. Half price cigarettes and who can turn down a bargain? You can. What's half of nothing? - nothing. That's what you'll spend if you don't fall for the duty-free trap. Beware of bargains. 39. COLD TURKEY Giving up instantly works for some. It's a hard road to take but the agony isn't drawn out, it happens all at once. So, which suits you - stop dead or cut down gradually. We look at the pros and cons. 40. SMOKELESS FUEL Smoking actually takes up an impressively large chunk of your life. Buying cigarettes, finding your lighter, smoking the damn things, coughing. What do you do instead with all that time? 41. FOOD FOR THOUGHT Food is a great replacement for cigarettes. Not any old food, unless you want to look like Orson Welles. Try these tasty bites which will keep your mouth and hands busy while not expanding your waistline. 42. SUCK IT AND SEE Help's at hand. Nicotine replacement gum, patches, sprays etc. are all readily available at the chemist's or on prescription. 43. QUICK FIXES Never thought you'd be sticking needles in yourself to stop being a drug addict. Acupuncture has the painless answer. Tackle the addiction, relieve stress, improve sleep patterns. Those needles have a point. 44. YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME Support is a vital ingredient in the recipe for success. A 'Quit Smoking' group, friends, colleagues at work, but particularly members of your family can provide that extra discipline and morale boost to keep you on the straight and narrow. 45. LOOK INTO MY EYES Sneak up on your habit and tackle it while it's not looking with hypnosis. Talking to your subconscious could help root out the underlying causes of your addictionand give you hidden support, 46. BUSY DOING NOTHING There's time on your hands. There's an addict on your shoulder begging you to give him just one last cigarette. Stay active. Scan this handy survey of replacement activities and choose your weapons. 47. SMOKE SCREEN This is the time the addict in you is going to start getting worried. And the time he'll start pulling out his dirtiest tricks. A handy guide to all the subtle games the addict will play on you get you to give up giving up. Don't be fooled! 48. REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, ONE, TWO, THREE Giving up will doubtless be a mix of reasons from health, wealth and family. Knowing why you want to give up helps to reinforce your resolve. Reminding yourself why helps you to stick at it. 49. RELAX, DON'T DO IT Any recovering drug addict feel stressed. What you don't need to do is head back into the same old habits to relieve the stress. Here are some handy hints to help you keep calm and relaxed under pressure. 50. FIGHTING FAT The fear of putting on weight deters some. Food tastes better, so you eat more. Nothing to do with your hands and mouth, so you eat more. Eat the right food sensibly and you'll destroy the myth. 51. ONE CAN'T HURT Oh yes it does. One's not enough, a thousand are too many. As soon as you light up you've stepped on the old treadmill, walking through those revolving doors, back in bondage. One is too many: remember you're an addict. 52. GIVE UP, FALL OUT, GET ON Each smoker has his own Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Mr Hyde will tell you he'll be hell to live with without fags. Call his bluff, talk to your partner, accept you'll be a pain in the arse and find ways to deal with it.
About the Author :
Clive Hopwood has written over one hundred books including many tightly formatted TV spin offs. Clive co-ordinates and runs the Writers in Prison Network in 20 prisons across the country which has given him real insights into drug and alcohol addictions. Clive tried to give up smoking for a long time and hopes the research and writing of this book, along with his family's support, will help him finally kick the habit. Author and writer Peter Cross spent most of his life working in institutions dominated by a smoking culture including the Royal Navy, psychiatric hospitals and his work as a prison writer in residence where he met Clive. In addition to his numerous books, Peter has also written over 30 book reviews this year for the Sunday Times, Daily Express and New Statesman and a variety of features for the British Medical Journal.
