While smoking can be a difficult habit to break, many people learn to quit. Often smokers become discouraged because they have tried to stop once, twice or even several times, but the good news is that people who eventually succeed at quitting have “failed” multiple times first. So if you have tried to stop but haven’t, there is no need to give up. You are just like those who eventually quit.

No matter how long you’ve been smoking, your health will improve if you stop. Within three months circulation improves, walking becomes easier and lung function increases. Within nine months coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decrease. Within one year excess risk of coronary heart disease is reduced to half that of a smoker. By 15 years risk of death returns nearly to the level of people who have never smoked. So it’s never too late to quit.

A cognitive behavioral approach to stopping combined with hypnosis has proved very effective in smoking cessation programs. Biofeedback has also been used to manage the stress people feel when they quit, as has self-hypnosis.