Bhviur hng, Giving Up Smoking - Essay Example

Bеhаviоur Сhаngе Name Instructor’s name Institution Introduction It can be agreed that quitting smoking is tough and thus it requires change of behavior. Beginning with quitting smoking to healthy eating to regular exercising to becoming more organized, there are a number of behaviors which individuals have to begin or to end which tend to inhibit or resist attempts in doing so. In other words the psychology that underpins the change of behaviors is a complex one. Some people quit smoking suddenly while others reduce gradually the use of tobacco and its related products. The more the motivation and preparation a person makes towards quitting the more the likelihood that he or she is likely to succeed in quitting smoking (Metzger, Kandt, & Geet, 2011). Some people may quit smoking on their own however generally people have greater chances of quitting especially when they use a program which will give support or counseling. Smoking is tough to quit because it is both a psychological habit and a physical addiction. Therefore, eliminating that regular fix of smoking causes the body to experience cravings and physical symptoms of withdrawal. Conversely the smoking act is ingrained as a ritual for every day.Smoking is the habit where a substance is burned and the resultant smoke breathed in where it gets absorbed into the blood stream. Behavior change on the other hand refers to any modification transformation of the behavior of a human. This essay therefore presents the results of an interview conducted on two individuals trying to change their smoking behavior, one of them had a successful change of behavior while the other subject’s attempts were not successful. The results are presented as findings. Then a discussion of the findings is provided that offers the stages of change and processes of change and the finally a conclusion to the overall behavior change. Summary of findings It was found out that the decision to stop smoking is one that an individual can make by himself or herself. And this is the reason as to why some people choose to stop smoking and become successful while others attempt but do not become successful. It was established that the process of behavior change to quit smoking involves the following steps. Making decisions. This decision stems from an individual’s commitment, even if others try to initiate the change, unless there is a personal decision to make the change it will be impossible for the external factors to cause the change ("Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?", 2006). This depends on the person understanding the benefits of effecting the change of the behavior. For instance an individual may consider the reasons of quitting smoking by asking himself such questions as what if I contract a disease related to smoking. Are the benefits of quitting more than the benefits of continuing to smoke? Are you ready initiate a serious attempt at quitting? Those who think they are not ready even if they try to stop smoking, their change of behavior in most instances was not successful. On the other hand the one who was ready to make a decision towards quitting was successful in changing the behavior (Behaviour change, 2007). Making a plan and setting a date to quit smoking. Once a person has decided to change the behavior or quit smoking, then the individual takes this significant step (Butler, Rayens, Zhang, & Hahn, 2010). When a date that is far away is picked it allows time for the individual to rationalize as well as change mind. This also offers the person adequate time to make preparations and also develop a plan. A date with a special meaning for example an anniversary, a birthday or a random date may be taken. Then a strong commitment to quit on that day need to be made. Prepare for the quit day. One way to make preparations for the day of quitting was to cut down the number of cigarettes one had been smoking little by little each day. By this manner the amount of nicotine in the body of the smoker is gradually reduced. It was found out that it was more effective to cut down the amount of cigarettes consumed prior to the date of quitting so as to reduce the symptoms of withdrawal, however this was hard to do (Michie, Free, & West, 2012). The steps that could help one to preparation for the quit date are picking a date and marking it on a calendar, telling family members or friends concerning your quit date. Getting rid of cigarettes. Practice to say not to smoking. Make a plan, develop a system for support. Think over your past quitting attempts and try to find out what worked and what did not work. Further from the findings it was established that the process through which all behavior change involve five stages that is precontemplation, contemplation, determination, action and maintenance. In precontemplation stage, the need to either change a given behavior has never been thought of or has not been given a serious thought. Often time ideas are received about the things which might require to change from others however a negative reaction is made as a result of reflex. In essence an individual is often quite happy on his or her present stable of behaviors. In the contemplation stage an individual begins to think actively concerning the essence to change a behavior and to completely wrap his or her mind over the idea. This stage may last from any time in the moment to a whole lifetime. The things that cause a person to move from this stage to the next is the change in opinion to a belief that is deeply held. Exactly what causes a change of behavior is diverse from other and to a large extent it is not predictable. In this stage is where the hindrances to change tend to develop their ugly heads. If an individual gets stuck in this stage, as many are, then an alternative way is to be sought to think over the worth of change that is being contemplated on. It only needs to be recalled that it all entails seeking and stimulating a belief for motivation (Das, Vonkeman, & Hartmann, 2012). In the determination stage is where mental preparation and physical preparation are made ready for action. It is in this stage in which the smoker may decide to throw away all the cigarettes. The development of motivation is the climax of the decision to make a behavioral change in addition to fuelling the urge to reaching to the target (Pasmore, Woodman, & Shani, 2010). It was found out that a human being have the ability to show an unlimited amount of determination when properly encouraged by a belief that is deeply held. The action stage is where a solution is implemented. This is the point that a smoker stops to smoke. It is at this stage that wisdom in the manner of behavior change is finally manifested. The last stage is the maintenance which is continual abstinence from smoking. Maintaining a new change of behavior is the part that challenges most in a behavior change. This is because we many times fail to make enough preparations for the final stage of maintenance. In addition it is due to the fact that we mistakenly assume that the tactics that were used to induce the change will equally be effective in helping an individual to proceed with the change, but which cannot (Mazanov & Byrne, 2008). Where changing a habit that is strongly entranced needs changing our belief concerning the behavior that deeply penetrates into our lives and continually showing that wisdom needs that we maintain a life- condition that is of high standard. In the situation that the mood of an individual is low, the ability or wisdom to act differently tends to disappear and the person goes back to drinking again. However in a high life condition, the belief that has had a change will still continue to show up as an action. For example when getting yourself to quit smoking, is cheap due to the belief that one should remain a non- smoker stays strongly stimulated up and hence motivating (Van Gucht, Beckers, Van den Bergh, & Vansteenwegen, 2010). The central thing that lies at the base of holding new behaviors is being happy. This is the reason as to why it is very hard to keep new behaviors. It was also noted that these stages are interrelated, that is they are conditional and sequential in the sense that one stage leads to the development of the other stage. First the stage that an individual is in needs to be identified first with regard to the behavior that is required to be changed in the individual. A smoker that has never seriously thought of abandoning tobacco could be in the pre-contemplation stage. And if one expects them to jump from the pre-contemplation stage to action without moving through contemplation and determination, they would almost certainly fail to change and will be a cause a frustration. However, if an individual moves from one stage through to the stage he or she becomes “ripe” at a pace that is comfortable to them (Marcus, Hampl, & Fisher, 2004). Discussion Change of behavior is seldom a distinct, lone event. In the decades that have past, the change of behaviour has come to be comprehended as a process of identifiable stages via which people go through. The stages involved in change outline five stages that determine readiness that is precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance which is a framework of comprehending behavior change (Borland, 2013). In most people change of behavior takes place gradually with time, with the individual moving from not being interested, unwilling or unaware to initiate a change (precontemplation), to taking into account a change (contemplation) to making a decision and making preparation to make a change. This is then followed by an action that is definitive and which tries to keep the conduct with time. Individuals can progress in either directions in the stages of change ("How to quit smoking—now", 2005). Many individuals will “recycle” via the stages of change many times before the changes become entirely established. The stages in which change takes place are importance in identifying the right interventions that can be applied to nurture a behavior that is positive; by looking into where an individual is in the process of change and the measures of intervention which could be tailored in to the individual’s preparedness for change (Cobb, Niaura, Donaldson, & Graham, 2014). Thus the things which move a person towards making a change that is positive require to be perceived as a achievement. The moment the individual gets to the contemplation stage, more tactics can be used to help the individual get along the change stages. It is of significance to assess the readiness of a person to change for any intervention that is proposed. The interventions which are not the readiness of an individual are less likely to bear fruits. In addition, interventions that attempt to move an individual very quickly through the stages of change have a great likelihood of creating resistance that will hinder change of behavior. For instance, in attempting to have an individual to stop smoking, it is crucial to know the readiness of the individual to stop smoking. An individual that is not even contemplating concerning stopping smoking can be considered as not being ready to get information concerning cessation assistance on smoking. This may not only result in making the individual more resistive to quit smoking but also damage the rapport (Lam & Minna, 2011). Amore specific intervention is to make the individual think over quitting. The moment the individual gets to the contemplation stages, more tactics can be used to continue moving the individual through the stages of behavior change. Thus the things which cause an individual move along the course of making change that is positive should be taken as an accomplishment (Herrick, Herrick, & Mitchell, 2010). Using the interventions that are specific to a given stage can decrease the frustrations of the provider by minimizing the expectations which are not realistic that change will take place with a lone intervention. The two main factors which have been found to impact the readiness of an individual to change are “self- efficacy” and “importance”. Importance is evaluated by what worth a person puts towards creating the change. Self- efficacy on the other hand is the belief of an individual or confidence in their ability to accomplish effecting the change. People usually reflect diverse levels of self- efficacy and importance. The deficiency in either self-efficacy or importance may lead to the willingness of an individual to obligate to change (Prochaska, 2013). Conclusion It can be concluded that for behavior change to take place, all the five stages of change in behavior have to be applicable. Finally, by identifying which of the five stages of change one finds himself in at any given time with regard to any behavior one is trying to change an individual might maintain expectations that are realistic to reduce frustrations (Kerr, Weitkunat, & Moretti, 2005). References Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?. (2006). Clinical Diabetes, 24(3), 138-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/diaclin.24.3.138 Behaviour change. (2007). London. Behaviour change. Change behaviour. (2015). Perspectives In Public Health, 135(3), 120-120. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1757913915580921 Better stop-smoking rates on discharge. (2013). The Pharmaceutical Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.1211/pj.2013.11118432 Borland, R. (2013). Understanding Hard to Maintain Behaviour Change. Wiley. Butler, K., Rayens, M., Zhang, M., & Hahn, E. (2010). 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