Dubai: We have all heard of the harmful effects of smoking. But, how difficult is it, to quit for good?
During the month of Ramadan, a lot of smokers do not pick up a cigarette during the day, if they are fasting. With up to 15 hours of fasting in the UAE, that is more than half of their day gone without a smoke. So, does this help in the process of quitting completely?
Farhat Abbas Awan, who works in commercial sales in Sharjah, seems to think so. He was a chain-smoker, but last year, during Ramadan, he successfully kicked the habit. Awan’s father told him that it is difficult to quit smoking. So, he took on the challenge.
He said: “I was fasting during the day, and for a smoker, it feels good to have a smoke after iftar. But, I resisted. I initially reduced to one packet a day and it gradually went down to a few cigarettes, and then I just stopped.”
When he first started smoking, he was going through a difficult phase and couldn’t speak to anyone about it. So, he indulged, as a way to beat the stress. The first thing he would do when he woke up was smoke. He then picked up a cigarette after every meal, and then during every other hour.
Today, almost a year after quitting, he says he doesn’t have any cravings, even if somebody is smoking around him.
He said: “When I quit, I had a packet of cigarettes in my pocket. I initially kept it in my car and looked at it to test my will. I eventually threw it.”
The money he would spend on buying cigarettes daily is now spent on buying fresh juices and healthy snacks. Awan said: “You need that change to get over a bad habit. Add something different and healthy, because if you keep the same routine, your craving to smoke might return.”
World No Tobacco Day, which is marked every year on May 31, aims to inform people just how beneficial it would be for them to quit this habit.
With a deadly mix of more than 7,000 chemicals, tobacco use can increase the chances of serious health problems, resulting in early death, as stated by the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). You may have heard that quitting smoking could add up to 10 years to your life. The CDC states that this is because people who stop smoking greatly reduce their risk of disease and early death.
Peer pressure and influence plays a significant role in whether youngsters will pick up the habit or not, as stated by the Livestrong Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organisation. Based on a study conducted by the US Public Health Service, 88 per cent of people who smoke, begin by the age of 18. These young adults are easily influenced. The decision to light up is reinforced by a desire to feel accepted.
Abdul Qadir Hassan, an assistant manager based in Sharjah, is among those who started smoking due to peer pressure, and because it was “cool” at the time. Smoking since 2004, Hassan started realising its ill effects last year. It was slowly becoming harder to climb the stairs, as he would run short of breath. When he woke up in the mornings, he could smell the stench left behind by the cigarettes. His health issues convinced him that it was time to let go.
He said: “I realised that it wasn’t a physical need, it was all psychological. I also thought of the people around me and how the smell of my cigarette must be bothering them, and how they would perceive me because of it. I initially switched to vaping and three months later, I completely quit.”
Ramadan seemed like an ideal time for him to do so, because it was creating long gaps between his smoke breaks. On a normal day, he confessed to smoking every hour. He would look for excuses to light up. But, fasting helped him build his patience.
Hassan said: “After more than a decade of excessive smoking, I had realised how wrong it was and felt that Ramadan was the best time for a fresh start.”
According to the US National Library of Medicine, if smokers are deprived of nicotine, their attention span and cognitive abilities can be impaired. A lot of people pick up a cigarette when they are stressed, but there is little evidence that smoking reduces stress. Instead, the feeling is likely relief from the withdrawal-induced negative mood that is experienced between cigarettes.
After a decade of smoking, Irshad Ahmad Bhat, a compliance officer based in Dubai, learnt of this fact and realised how true it was. He also noticed that his health was deteriorating.
He said: “So, why was I smoking? I kept thinking it’s a way to pass time, de-stress and enjoy. But, I hope that everyone who smokes realises that it’s nothing but a loss of your own dignity.”
As he was fasting during Ramadan last year, he was also fighting the craving to smoke. Usually, he would quit the habit for just the month and as Ramadan would come to an end, his cigarette pack would make a return.
Bhat said: “If you decide to quit permanently, the 30 days will help you get over the craving. Now, it feels like I never smoked.”
The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in the UAE is Dh10. Junaid Ahmad, an accommodation administrator based in Abu Dhabi, smoked two packs a day for three years. By that calculation, he spent Dh21,900 in that time, only to realise how much money was being wasted on this ill habit last year.
He said: “It began with social smoking, around my friends, and then I became addicted. But, it was taking a toll on my health and I lost my stamina. After walking less than a kilometre, I couldn’t even breathe.”
He chose Ramadan as a time to quit, because he believed that if he could stay without smoking for more than 14 hours a day, he could do it permanently.
Ahmad said: “If you want to quit, you can. No one else can help you.”
