Making use of dangerous drugs such as Prozac or Zyban are not really the way to go about stopping your addiction to nicotine. In a way it is just like replacing one dangerous drug with another. So to is using NRT, so there has to be another way to stop smoking without using nicotine replacement, and there is. There is a lot of information available in self help form, however it remains hard to stop smoking on your own without help.

And we do not all have the willpower of General De Gaulle who was a heavy smoker. He just realized one day that the cigarettes were controlling him, and not the other way around, so he just stopped! But we are not all made of the same stuff. Changing the way we do things can be as difficult as the physiological withdrawals, especially if we want to associate with others who still smoke. You can’t just give up your friends all of a sudden because you don’t smoke and they do.

Some of the free phone counselling available from government sites seems to work well. Counseling is a far better alternative to nicotine replacement therapy and has actually proven to be working. Studies have proven that by utilizing this type of support, the chances of quitting double.

As a habit forming substance, nicotine is one of the most potent we know of. It is for this reason that support is vital for the smoker who is trying to stop. Support begins at home with loved ones and extends out through co-workers, friends and counsellors. Encouragement is vital in this attempt to break the habit and ex-smokers swear that the support they receive is one of the chief reasons for achieving success.

Information for the smoker who wants to stop is available from many resources. Health insurance companies, your local gym, hospitals, support groups and even your employer. However these just make some of the resources available, and the most efficient assistance does come from a trained counselor.

Counseling may be undertaken on an individual or group basis, and even over the telephone it has its merits. Because counselors are trained to help the smoker deal with the physical and emotional side of giving up this addiction, their assistance it so much more valuable, and much more than just a shoulder to cry on, it is also about understanding the withdrawal.

You must remember that the withdrawal symptoms will last up to three or four days as the nicotine still remains in the body. These are liable to last just a couple of days or in some instances even weeks. It is this time when the support is needed most so that the smoker has someone to turn to rather than back to the cigarettes.

The beauty of using counseling to get over the urge to smoke is that you don’t have to use NRT, and you also don’t have to use any dangerous drugs. It has been shown in clinical studies that there is a four times increase in the success rate when a smoker receives the correct counseling. Attempting to stop smoking alone has been proven to be the least effective of all.

Before deciding on a stop smoking system, be sure to visit SmokingReviews.org to discover about the best methods around to help you quit smoking today!