What Stage Am I In?The Stages of Change - A measure of where you are in your Stop Smoking history Doctors help patents stop smoking by helping them understand the "stages of change" that all smokers go through. They match their messages up with whatever stage you are in. Precontemplation - This is when a person isn't serious about quitting in the next six months. They like the good things about smoking more than they worry about the bad things. They avoid anything about quitting. The goal is to begin to think seriously about quitting someday. Contemplation - This is when a person is seriously thinking about quitting (like, in the next 6 months maybe), but not right now. They start to think about the bad things about smoking more than they enjoy the good things. This type of smoker can get stuck in this stage. The goal is to think more about the bad things and about quitting, and less about the good things. Preparation - This is when a person plans to quit in the next month sometime, and when they have tried to quit once before lasted for at least 24 hours sometime in the last year. They do stuff to get ready to stop smoking, like delaying the urge to smoke, smoking less, or doing something else, etc. For these people, the bad aspects of smoking are more important than the good aspects, and they want to quit. The goal is to plan a quit date -- the date when they will quit "cold turkey." Action - This is when a person actually quits smoking. They are in danger of starting to smoke again, so they goal is to use "social support" (friends and family) and other plans to stay away from tobacco and not smoke ever again. Maintenance - This is when a person has not smoked for more than six months. During this stage, people use all kinds of plans to deal with cravings and "dangerous" times when it's very tempting to smoke. |
