Any smoker intent on quitting on New Year's Day should think again, writes Hélène Mulholland. Don't take it from me but heed the words issued by Ash, the lobby group set up to stop everyone from lighting up. It doesn't appear to be a case of paradoxical intervention either. They remind us that New Year can be stressful and so why stop then?
Frankly, they may be on to something. New Year's Eve is going to be a chokefest of fags and booze followed by a big comedown the next morning in which you'll have time to ruminate at your leisure on to what degree you pretty much wasted most of last year. You know for a fact you've wasted more than enough money on tobacco to fund a first-class round-the-world air ticket - both ways. And did you really do all those things you said you were going to do last year? Hands up who scored 10 out of 10? Those that didn't even set targets so could not possibly have failed put your hands back down.
So with all those heavy thoughts and heady hangovers looming, New Year should officially be the day where smokers plan to stop, rather than actually stop. With all these smoking bans on the horizon across the UK, you might as well think about it at the very least. The most likely way to succeed in quitting is by setting a date, and planning for the times you're going to reach out for the cigarettes because you're tired/ stressed/ happy/ bored. If you can't do it alone, join an NHS stop smoking group, where you can get nicotine replacement therapy and lots of useful support in your hours of craving. Just don't, whatever you do, stop on New Year's Day.
