Research of individual life style change after stop smoking

Tobacco usage is an addiction that is hard to quit and consists of cognitive, physiological, and behavioral phenomena. Because of its' negative effects on human health, smoking is one of the major health problems of the world and of our country. Regarding its' effects and consequences, smoking is an education and public health problem that concerns large portions of society. Our study aims to contribute to the treatment of smoking and to the literature by interviewing individuals whose smoking cessation period is longer than six months. These interviews are utilized in detailed examination of the changes that occur following the cessation of smoking, and the methods these individuals use when coping with the urge to start smoking again. In our research, a semi-structured interview form is applied to 13 volunteers that were aged between 18-65 and were not smoking for a period of at least six months. 10 of these volunteers were patients who had applied to Ege University Substance Abuse, Toxicology and Drug Science Institute Smoking Cessation Policlinic, and 3 volunteers were outsourced. Findings of the research obtained by content analysis is presented under three sections: 'Factor of Smoking Initiation' is the assessment of initiation and continuation of smoking, 'Period Before Cessation' is where experiences of the period prior to cessation is discussed, and 'Experience of Cessation' is where changes are examined following the cessation. Although these themes are evaluated separately, it has been seen that many sub-themes are related to and interacting with one another. The importance of smoking cessation treatments has increased in recent years. To expand the scope of effectiveness of these threatments, studies on this field gain importance. Refraining from addictive substances and behaviours altogether is thought to be the first and most important step in combatting addiction. Enabling the society to recognize addiction and to discover how to avoid addiction is thought to be important. Key Words: Smoking Cessation, Addiction, Change, Tobacco Use Disorder