Well don't substitute an addiction with another for a start.
Anti-smoking programs are incredibly ineffective. My course convener at uni has told us twice about how he helped run a program for a very large corporation with over 1000 employees. They advertised internally and invited people to attend, to learn methods to help them give up smoking, and only around 20 or so people did. Of those that attended, 2 of them had quit smoking by the end of the program. One year later, only one of those two was still a non-smoker. So a lot of time, money, and effort was spent for just one person to give up smoking. From the description it sounded like this was a corporation with a higher than average number of smokers (not unusual depending on the workplace).
For some addictions there will be nationally accessible help - for instance alcohol or gambling. For others there isn't, so perhaps your best bet is to talk with a specialist, you may be able to get a referral from your GP. If you want my advice on caffeine - you can certainly become dependant on it, where without it you will suffer migraine like headaches, etc. I know some people this has happened to. You may need to make a calendar and reduce your daily caffeine overtime. Each week drink one less cup of coffee until you're down to two cups a day at the most. There are some health benefits to having a daily cup of coffee, so there's no need to get rid of it entirely.
I'm not at all sure what the best way to quit smoking is. I'd suggest starting by not allowing yourself to ever smoke in a social setting; not in front of others at all and doing it in "secret". This means that instead of enjoying other people's company each time you have a cigarette you are punishing yourself until you finish. This may mean you can't physically smoke as much as you're used to. Also, every cigarette less that you smoke per day will have an ongoing health benefit. Smoking illnesses (coronary heart disease and cancers) take 20 years to develop. So if you're a pack-a-day smoker today, it's in 20 years time that you will be punished for it, on average. Emphysema will develop in the present. You have to look at the big picture: if you give up smoking today then 20 years from now there will be no effect that it has to increase your risk of coronary heart disease or cancer.
Anti-smoking programs are incredibly ineffective. My course convener at uni has told us twice about how he helped run a program for a very large corporation with over 1000 employees. They advertised internally and invited people to attend, to learn methods to help them give up smoking, and only around 20 or so people did. Of those that attended, 2 of them had quit smoking by the end of the program. One year later, only one of those two was still a non-smoker. So a lot of time, money, and effort was spent for just one person to give up smoking. From the description it sounded like this was a corporation with a higher than average number of smokers (not unusual depending on the workplace).
For some addictions there will be nationally accessible help - for instance alcohol or gambling. For others there isn't, so perhaps your best bet is to talk with a specialist, you may be able to get a referral from your GP. If you want my advice on caffeine - you can certainly become dependant on it, where without it you will suffer migraine like headaches, etc. I know some people this has happened to. You may need to make a calendar and reduce your daily caffeine overtime. Each week drink one less cup of coffee until you're down to two cups a day at the most. There are some health benefits to having a daily cup of coffee, so there's no need to get rid of it entirely.
I'm not at all sure what the best way to quit smoking is. I'd suggest starting by not allowing yourself to ever smoke in a social setting; not in front of others at all and doing it in "secret". This means that instead of enjoying other people's company each time you have a cigarette you are punishing yourself until you finish. This may mean you can't physically smoke as much as you're used to. Also, every cigarette less that you smoke per day will have an ongoing health benefit. Smoking illnesses (coronary heart disease and cancers) take 20 years to develop. So if you're a pack-a-day smoker today, it's in 20 years time that you will be punished for it, on average. Emphysema will develop in the present. You have to look at the big picture: if you give up smoking today then 20 years from now there will be no effect that it has to increase your risk of coronary heart disease or cancer.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
