Participants: Raginée Edwards
Series Code: KTH
Program Code: KTH000001
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00:23 Hello. Welcome to Kicking the Habit.
00:25 My name is Raginee Edwards and I'll be your host 00:28 for the six-part series on smoking cessation. 00:31 In this series, we intend to explore various aspects 00:34 involved with the addiction. 00:35 We look at the personal smoking history of some former smokers 00:39 and discuss the triggers, strategies, 00:42 and tools for quitting. 00:44 As a health educator working in Alamogordo, New Mexico, 00:47 I was approached by a lady 00:50 who worked with smoking cessation in our county 00:53 and she said, "I want you to be trained 00:57 to teach quit smoking classes." 00:59 And I said, why? 01:01 I've never even smoked. 01:03 I have no way of associating or knowing how to identify 01:08 with somebody who has smoked and wants to quit smoking. 01:12 She said, "Raginee, I think you can do it. 01:14 I believe in you and I want to train you." 01:16 I said, "Okay, I'll do it." 01:18 And I went through the training 01:20 and I have to tell you, I learned a lot. 01:23 One of the things that I learned, 01:25 I would say the thing that I learned the most was, 01:27 we can really all identify with addictions, 01:30 whether it's smoking, whether it's shopping, 01:33 whether it's eating, whether it's gossiping, 01:37 we all have some sort of addiction effects, 01:39 had some experience with addictions. 01:41 And so I felt, like I could really identify 01:44 with those who had smoked, not that I could say, 01:48 I totally identify with having that situation 01:53 because you can't know until you've been there, 01:55 so I'm not gonna claim that. 01:57 However, most of the expertise that even want to claim, 02:03 aside from theories and programs and education. 02:08 The expertise I claimed 02:09 are what I've learned from the people 02:11 that I've worked with as a facilitator for a course, 02:13 it was a 13 week course 02:15 that helped individuals to quit smoking. 02:17 I learned from their stories, 02:19 I learned from their experiences. 02:21 And what we want to share with you 02:22 over the six-part series 02:24 are the experiences of those who have successfully quit. 02:30 And what we're going to look at now 02:33 are some friends of ours Brenda, Isaac, and Kathleen. 02:38 We want to understand a bit more 02:40 why they chose to quit? 02:42 Why they chose to smoke in the first place? 02:44 What are some tools 02:45 that they used to maintain smoke-free 02:48 to even quit smoking? 02:50 What was their plan? 02:52 How they do it and how can you do it? 02:53 The first question that we asked was 02:56 when and why did you choose to take that first puff? 03:00 Let's listen to what they have to say. 03:03 When and why? 03:05 Actually the when was as a child 03:09 walking with other friends 03:12 and just taking a puff here and there 03:14 because we were children and that's what we did. 03:18 We just walked going to the movies 03:20 and bought cigarettes 03:22 because then you could buy cigarettes as a child. 03:26 And that's when I first took a smoke 03:28 but that wasn't when I gain the habit. 03:31 When and why I chose to take my first puff. 03:38 The first puff of tobacco I took was really a pipe. 03:50 Yeah, pipe tobacco smelled good. 03:53 So I want to smoke something besides the cigarette 03:57 so I picked up a pipe and I smoke a pipe. 04:01 I started smoking in my teens 04:03 and I always heard that it was good way to manage stress. 04:09 It seemed like it relieve stress with the people 04:12 I saw smoking. 04:14 Now we've heard those responses to the question. 04:17 Why did they choose to take the first puff? 04:20 It was interesting what Brenda said. 04:22 She started smoking as a child, just walking with her friends 04:26 and that they were able to actually 04:28 purchase as children cigarettes and that sounds crazy to us. 04:32 But just looking at that, would she have chosen to smoke 04:36 if she couldn't purchase it, if her friends weren't smoking. 04:39 So those are factors that we will, 04:41 we can look at to say that influenced her choice. 04:45 As a child, they've had no adult supervision, 04:48 there is nobody else with them 04:50 and not only that but it was under a social setting. 04:53 So they were doing with their friends. 04:54 Now we didn't ask her if she did it alone or not, 04:56 but at that age, 04:58 they were doing it together like a social connection. 05:00 So there we see availability. 05:02 We see the social connectedness that they had with each other, 05:06 those were influencing factors for smoking 05:08 for Brenda as she started. 05:09 But then she also mentioned that 05:11 she knew it wasn't a habit. 05:13 We find that a lot with younger people 05:14 that they may not smoke on their own or alone, 05:17 they may smoke two cigarettes a day 05:18 or just on the weekends 05:20 when they're drinking with their friends 05:21 I found that a lot. 05:23 And they're actually not considered addicted, 05:25 they're doing it for just the fun of it. 05:28 And then we look at Isaac, he is so funny. 05:32 He said that he didn't have an interest in cigarettes, 05:36 he wanted to smoke a pipe, it smelled good. 05:38 You know, I talked with him a little behind the scenes 05:39 and he said, it looked cool. 05:41 So for him it was the cool factor 05:44 that let him to choose, 05:45 and then we have Kathleen. 05:47 She spoke about where so many speak 05:49 about the relief of stress. 05:51 She looked around and she saw, oh, well, it works for them, 05:54 maybe that will work for me too. 05:56 And so she tried it, 05:59 so that, that, those are very interesting things to consider 06:01 when we're looking at 06:03 why somebody takes the first puff. 06:04 Why somebody makes the choice to take the first puff. 06:07 Now the next question that we asked the participants 06:12 is why did you continue to choose to smoke? 06:15 Let's hear their responses. 06:18 Well, later on I chose to continue to smoke 06:23 when I was 14. 06:26 And at that time, I was actually young, 06:33 pregnant woman at 14. 06:36 And I craved cigarettes. 06:39 So I started to smoke at 14 06:42 and I continued to smoke for five years. 06:47 And then when I started smoking, 06:53 I just... 06:54 It just became habit for me 06:56 because I quickly became addicted 06:57 and I did see some kind of relief. 07:01 And I held on to it even though I knew that at the same time 07:06 nothing actually was changing in my situation. 07:10 I graduated from pipe to a cigar 07:12 or is that a graduation, 07:14 I think it's really a step down 07:16 from pipe to cigar then to cigarette. 07:19 I didn't really started smoking cigarettes 07:21 until after I got in the service. 07:24 Now, we heard the responses to that question, 07:28 why did you continue to smoke. 07:30 Now Brenda pick back up at the age of 14 07:33 being pregnant smoking. 07:35 I know we all gasp in horror that one she is pregnant at 14 07:40 and she too she's smoking on top of that. 07:44 I heard a story once by a guy who was a director 07:48 for a residential treatment program 07:50 for those who want to quit 07:51 in these type of substance abuse. 07:53 And he said, "Imagine that you're in a pit. 07:57 And there's hardly any air there 08:00 and there's a hole at the top of the pit 08:03 and there's oxygen there 08:04 and you need to climb up to get to it." 08:06 And you are gasping for air. 08:10 You would step on your friend, your mom, your child 08:15 just to get that breath of fresh air 08:17 and until you have experienced what it feels like 08:20 to just want to take a breath of oxygen, 08:24 you have no idea what it's like to struggle 08:27 with quitting an addiction. 08:29 And that really bought it home for me 08:30 and when I look at somebody 08:32 like Brenda at 14 pregnant who knows what the issue 08:36 she was dealing with as a young teen mom. 08:39 We have to be sympathetic 08:41 to understand that this is a serious issue. 08:44 Now for her she said, 08:46 "She continued to smoke for five years." 08:50 Looking at Kathleen, she said, 08:52 "She became addicted because she felt some relief." 08:56 And she even added that 08:58 even though she knew it wasn't changing her situation, 09:00 she was looking at the immediate 09:03 I have some relief. 09:04 So she was getting something out of that cigarette. 09:07 We're looking at Isaac. 09:09 He went from cigars to or the pipe 09:13 to cigars into cigarette. 09:15 And he talks about doing this when he was in the service. 09:18 Now, I've gotten a lot of guys, 09:19 I had a gentleman who was 72 years old 09:22 who smoked ever since he was in a navy in his 20s. 09:25 And he successfully quit through one of our programs, 09:28 but it's a very common thing for guys 09:31 who were in the service, it was very popular, 09:33 they had smoke breaks, 09:34 smoking times where everyone just smoked, 09:35 it was something that they did. 09:37 So all of these things influenced their choice 09:42 to continue to smoke 09:44 these different situations they're in. 09:46 So let's consider these things as we interact with people 09:51 or even see somebody who smoke and we think. 09:53 How could you continue to do that? 09:55 Don't you know what it does to your body? 09:57 Let's consider these things 09:58 that our participants are sharing with us. 10:01 Now the next question we asked 10:03 is what led you to want to quit. 10:07 Let's hear those responses. 10:09 The thing that made me want to quit 10:13 was that I came in contact with some Adventist. 10:19 And I had taken Bible studies 10:22 and decided I wanted to be baptized. 10:25 So I decided I need not to have that habit. 10:30 And that's what made me want to stop 10:34 so that I could be baptized. 10:36 Well, for a long time 10:37 I realized that I needed to quit smoking cigarettes, 10:40 but I didn't have a strong desire 10:43 until I formed a personal relationship with Christ. 10:46 And I knew that hurting myself 10:50 and at the time I had a one year old 10:53 and hurting my son was not what Christ wanted me to do. 11:00 When I was over in Vietnam, 11:01 I flew in a helicopter ambulance, 11:05 I was a medic. 11:06 And I came up with the severe case of bronchitis. 11:12 So to remain on flight status, I had to quit smoking. 11:18 So we heard those responses. 11:20 What let them to want to quit. 11:22 Now the first one, Brenda, 11:25 she said, "She met some wonderful 11:28 Seventh-day Adventist Christians 11:29 that she started doing Bible studies with 11:32 and she decided that she wanted to quit. 11:37 Just the influence, 11:38 I mean, just thinking about the influence of others 11:42 within the circle of somebody who is a smoker, 11:45 having nonsmokers coming into their circle 11:48 and they're seeing how they are coping with life 11:52 and the positive, the benefits of being a nonsmoker that, 11:57 that encouraged her to also want to do the same. 12:00 Now, we're looking at Kathleen as well. 12:02 She said that 12:03 she formed a personal relationship with Christ. 12:06 And not only did she have a sense of, you know, 12:10 I want to do this to appease the Lord, 12:12 but also that her health and her child's health 12:16 was also something that Christ wanted her to consider. 12:19 When she said, this is not what Jesus wants me to do. 12:24 So just realizing, 12:25 she's realizing that connection there 12:27 and that desire that Christ has for her. 12:30 And then we look at Isaac. 12:32 I like that Isaac was just a little bit different, 12:34 just so we can see the different reasons 12:36 why people quit, but he said, he got bronchitis. 12:39 And that... 12:41 a lot of times it's a trigger for some people to realize, 12:45 okay, this is serious, this can happen to me. 12:47 A lot of times we engage in different behaviors 12:51 thinking that it won't happen to me 12:52 especially with younger people. 12:55 And so for him, it happening to him was acute action to say, 12:59 oh, this is not good. 13:01 And then he was at risk of losing his job. 13:03 So all of these different factors 13:05 were things that were acute actions for them to choose, 13:08 hey, it's time. 13:09 It's time to quit. 13:11 The next question that we ask. 13:14 How many times did you quit before the last time you quit? 13:18 Now the question was asked that way 13:20 without even asking them how many times they quit. 13:22 Because a lot of times a person who successfully quit 13:26 has tried to quit several times 13:27 before their successful attempt. 13:29 So if you are listening today and you are someone who smokes 13:33 or you know someone who smokes know. 13:36 And you tried to quit smoking 13:37 and you haven't done it successfully 13:39 know that, that is very common. 13:42 And the goal is to learn from the mistakes of the past 13:46 or the not so successful attempts in the past 13:49 and take from that 13:50 and make the next attempt even more successful. 13:54 So let's listen 13:55 to their responses to the question. 13:58 How many times did you quit before the last time you quit? 14:02 I quit the first time when I became a member 14:08 of the Seventh-day Adventist church. 14:10 And I didn't pick it up again, 14:14 I mean, the Lord actually delivered me 14:16 miraculously from it 14:19 and I didn't pick it up again for ten years. 14:23 Before I had... 14:25 before I overcame smoking, it took two times to do that. 14:29 Yeah, when I was on flight status, 14:31 I needed to quit 14:33 and so I really was able to quit 14:37 cold turkey without any problem. 14:39 I quit for 13 years. 14:41 After that, I slowly picked the habit back up again 14:45 really by association. 14:48 I had, if you have hard attempts to quit 14:50 where I would just stopping for a few hours 14:53 or few like may be a day 14:55 because of guilt, but I didn't really put my heart into it 14:59 until I decided, okay, this can happen. 15:03 And I just ask God to take over 15:06 and basically give me a way out. 15:11 Now you heard those responses. 15:13 None of them quit successfully the very first time. 15:17 Though Kathleen did mention that 15:19 she made many halfhearted attempts to quit smoking. 15:23 She never officially said, okay, today is the day, 15:25 I'm quitting smoking. 15:26 That's pretty common where we find participants 15:30 or those who want to quit, 15:31 they're just kind of halfheartedly thinking 15:33 one day or maybe I can try not to, 15:35 but they haven't told anybody, 15:37 they haven't really made a concrete decision 15:40 to actually quit smoking. 15:42 So again be encouraged, don't give up. 15:45 The next question, 15:47 I want you to listen to this answer. 15:48 What led you to keep trying 15:52 after previously not so successful attempts? 15:56 I don't want to say the word failure, 15:57 because it's not a failure, 15:59 because we can continue to keep trying. 16:01 So let's listen to these responses. 16:04 After the ten years that I started to smoke again, 16:10 it was guilt and the knowledge 16:13 that cigarettes was not good for my body 16:17 that made me want to stop after starting it again. 16:22 So I... 16:24 It was guilt and the willingness 16:28 to not mess my body up that way. 16:32 It was really discouraging, still having strong cravings 16:36 and still wanting to quit 16:39 and not being there mentally. 16:43 And so I just, I told God that if he didn't take it away, 16:48 then it was gonna go away. 16:52 Now you heard those responses. 16:54 You heard what Brenda said, 16:56 the guilt of continuing to smoke 16:58 and this is something that we hear over and over again, 17:01 especially for those who are coming into the church 17:06 or around a lot of people who their family members 17:08 who kind of can make them feel better 17:10 just when they realize that if this is hurting their body, 17:13 they feel a lot of guilt that weighs down on them. 17:16 And she said that guilt 17:17 is part of what encouraged her to keep trying, 17:20 but also just the willingness of wanting to, 17:23 her body to be healthier. 17:25 I mean, you also heard from Kathleen, 17:28 I really think that's interesting 17:29 how she said, "She had strong cravings." 17:32 But she also had a strong desire 17:34 to want to quit and that was, you know, a tug of war. 17:37 And I like how she ended of saying, 17:39 "I told Jesus if He didn't take it away, 17:42 it wasn't going to go away." 17:44 So you heard those responses. 17:47 And again we want to make sure that we are sympathetic 17:51 when we have family members, 17:52 our friends who are trying to quit 17:54 and just to keep encouraging them. 17:55 If they are not successful, if you are not successful, 17:58 you can continue to try to quit. 18:02 I'm reminded of a story of a lady 18:05 that was in one of my classes 18:07 and she came because she was diagnosed with COPD 18:13 which is a really rough condition on the lungs. 18:17 And her doctor said that she had five years to live. 18:21 Mind you she was 35 years old 18:22 and had five children all under the age of 16. 18:26 So she came to the class 18:28 and she was faithfully attending 18:29 and she was gung ho about quitting. 18:32 And she made an attempt to quit. 18:35 And I'll never forget, she came back to class one week 18:39 because it's their 13-week segments. 18:41 And she just broke out in tears. 18:44 She said, "This was not fair. 18:47 I don't want to quit. 18:48 The doctor just said, I have to and I'm just not ready." 18:52 And, you know, everybody kind of hurdled around her 18:55 but one thing that we had to assure her of was, 18:59 you have to come when you're ready. 19:01 When it comes to choosing to quit, 19:03 one and really important thing is 19:05 nobody can make this choice for you. 19:07 Or if you're a family member, you can't make this choice 19:11 for your grandparent or for your child 19:13 or for your spouse. 19:14 This choice has to be something that they own or that you own 19:19 before it's something that will actually stick. 19:21 Now, I'm not sure what happened to that young lady after that 19:26 but I do know that she was not ready at that time. 19:30 So don't make your family members feel bad. 19:32 Let them know that you are there to support them, 19:35 to encourage them 19:36 and that you're going to be there for them 19:38 when they're ready to choose for themselves 19:41 when they want to quit. 19:43 Now let's do a recap of the salient points 19:47 that we want to look at and consider 19:49 as we have listened to the responses 19:52 from our lovely participants throughout this program. 19:57 We're looking at 19:59 why people actually choose to start smoking. 20:03 Now, you heard the different responses 20:07 and we're wanting to consider this 20:10 because we want to put our family members, 20:13 especially our young people in a position 20:15 to where they don't choose to take that first puff. 20:18 So looking at their social influences. 20:22 Do they have friends 20:24 that possibly smoke or friends whose parents smoke? 20:29 Are they in environments 20:30 where they might have easy access 20:32 to people who smoke or to cigarettes? 20:36 I have a friend that I remember him telling me the first time 20:39 he started to smoke, 20:40 he said that he was dropped off at a party 20:44 when he was in middle school. 20:46 And his parents did not know 20:48 but the child's parents who was hosting the party 20:51 provided alcohol and cigarettes to those children, 20:55 middle school we're talking about. 20:57 And that's when he began to start smoking 21:00 in middle school because of the availability 21:02 of those cigarettes there and a parent choosing to give 21:05 those cigarettes and alcohol to those children. 21:08 So we want to seriously consider 21:11 who are our child's, our children's influence, 21:16 their social influences. 21:18 And protect them 21:19 from having that easy availability to cigarettes 21:23 or any tobacco products for that matter. 21:25 I'm reminded of another story, it's kind of silly. 21:30 It was of the person who trained me 21:32 to become a tobacco cessation facilitator. 21:34 She said that when she was younger about the age of five, 21:38 she found one of her parent's cigarette 21:40 and she took it, 21:41 it was already kind of 21:43 let you know how it's just there 21:44 sitting in the ashtray. 21:45 And she said, "She picked it up to kind of play with it 21:48 and her dad caught her." 21:50 And he came and he says, "Oh, you want to smoke." 21:52 And he give it to her to smoke 21:54 and in his mind he was thinking, he was gonna fix her 21:57 because she would not be able to handle it, 21:58 she wouldn't like it, she would never touch it ever again. 22:01 She said that he-- 22:02 she took that thing and she just, 22:05 and her dad looked her and said, 22:07 "Oh, no, what have I done." 22:09 She didn't cough, she didn't sputter 22:10 or anything. 22:12 Unfortunately, she went on to be 22:14 a four pack a day smoker. 22:17 Now she didn't start smoking at the age of five, 22:20 but she did pick it up later in life 22:22 and she just smoked for four years plus. 22:25 But when she did choose to quit, 22:28 she was such an instrumental part of our community 22:31 in helping people learn how to quit. 22:33 She trained me and a few other individuals 22:35 and we went around our community 22:38 teaching people how to quit. 22:40 Now the reason why I brought up that story is 22:45 parents have a big role to play 22:46 when it comes into their kids smoking. 22:50 In part, if they see parent smoking, 22:54 they're more likely to want to try it for themselves. 22:58 So as parents we have a part to play as well. 23:01 So we just want to consider that as far as our kids 23:04 choosing to when they start smoking. 23:07 So again, we've kind of looked at different reasons 23:10 why people choose to start, 23:12 we've kind of went gone through that 23:14 throughout this program. 23:15 And we must also look at why people continue to smoke. 23:20 You know, I hate to put it like this 23:22 but there are benefits to smoking. 23:24 And if there were no negative consequences, 23:27 it would seem like that will be the perfect thing. 23:29 It's like I've heard people describe it as, 23:32 you know, when you're partying, it just makes you feel good, 23:34 it relaxes you. 23:36 If you're stressed, it takes the stressful feeling away, 23:39 just taking that inhalation. 23:41 So it just seems like there are benefits obviously 23:44 and that's why people wanted to continue. 23:47 But we know that there are negative consequences there. 23:51 We know, we all know 23:52 when we can tell somebody who was a smoker, 23:54 I could tell you if you're smoker, 23:56 all the benefits and you could probably tell them all 23:59 back to me and more. 24:00 So why do people continue to choose to smoke? 24:05 One thing that we want to consider 24:07 as people will use this as a coping mechanism. 24:10 We have coping mechanisms. 24:12 Everybody has them. 24:13 So what we want to do is offer to our family members 24:17 as an example, how do we cope with our stress. 24:20 How do we cope with anything negative 24:23 that's going on with our life, especially our children, 24:24 we want to teach them appropriate coping skills. 24:28 So that they're less likely to choose 24:30 like Kathleen cigarettes 24:33 as the reasonable alternative because as she said, 24:36 I saw that work for some people and it helped me at that time. 24:39 So definitely let's consider that. 24:42 Another thing that we want to bring up is 24:45 what led people to want to quit. 24:47 and how can we be instrumental 24:48 in helping people to want to quit. 24:51 As you heard from two of our participants 24:54 as they shared their personal stories, 24:55 as they came to Christ 24:57 they had a realization that God wanted more for them 25:01 and God had a better way for them 25:03 when it came to quitting smoking, 25:05 and dealing with their stresses of life. 25:09 And so letting people know that there are better alternatives, 25:13 alternatives that do not harm their body 25:15 and showing them by example 25:17 our great ways of encouraging people to want to quit. 25:21 So if you had a family member who wants to quit 25:24 or who is thinking about quitting 25:26 but feels like they're struggling 25:28 and you really want to encourage them. 25:31 I advice you don't take their cigarettes 25:33 and throw them all in the garbage. 25:34 Don't hide their ashtrays 25:36 and we do all these little tactics 25:37 in trying to get people to quit, 25:39 but how about by example or even by explaining to them 25:42 or just talking to them. 25:44 You know, or even you, if you're a smoker 25:46 think about why do I smoke, 25:49 what leads me to pick up the cigarette, 25:51 this next cigarette I'm gonna pick up, 25:53 why am I picking it up. 25:54 Is it because there is something that has happened 25:57 that I thought they needed to cope with 25:58 and cigarette is the only way. 26:00 Explore why we're going there 26:03 instead of going to something else 26:05 whether it's exercise 26:06 or going straight to our knees to God 26:09 or whatever it is. 26:11 Consider why we're going there? 26:15 Also we want to encourage our family members, friends, 26:20 or I want to encourage you, 26:22 if you have tried to quit before, 26:24 know that it's not impossible 26:28 just because you might have not been successful 26:31 at the last time. 26:32 It's still possible to quit. 26:34 So be encouraged 26:35 that most people do not quit the first time. 26:38 So don't give up. 26:40 Keep trying, you will be successful. 26:43 Learn from your past mistakes 26:45 and use those to make your next attempt 26:48 even more successful. 26:50 And the last question 26:53 what leads you to keep trying to quit 26:57 even past not being successful. 27:00 I want you to try this homework assignment. 27:03 If you are somebody who smokes, 27:05 write down a list of all the benefits 27:07 that you can possibly think of, 27:10 of what would happen to you if you became a nonsmoker, 27:12 all the wonderful things that could happen 27:15 from not even having the smell, 27:18 to not having to think about 27:19 where the next cigarette comes from 27:21 or when you can sneak away to have a cigarette, 27:24 the cough you may have. 27:26 Even having, you know, more wrinkle skin 27:29 or whatever it is. 27:31 I want you to write an exhaustive list, 27:33 just think about all the things that you can write down 27:36 and focus on that list. 27:39 I want you to look at that 27:40 and not about oh, I can't do it, 27:42 it's not possible. 27:43 I don't even want you to think about quitting it. 27:45 I just want you to think about where all the benefits 27:49 that would encourage you to want to be a nonsmoker. 27:54 Remember, this is all about choices. 27:57 You have the power to choose to be a nonsmoker. |
Revised 2016-02-04