Help to quit smoking

Congratulations on taking your first step to quitting!

There’s an abundance of free support to help you quit smoking successfully. (Wondering the very best way to quit? An expert on stopping smoking answers that question on Time.com.)

Check out the following great cessation-support resources:

• NYC Quits

  has a bunch of tools and resources to help you—from a quit diary to resources and support for staying off the cigs—and a lot more.

• NY State

  has further cessation support for you:  their own quitline, nicotine patches, a quit calculator (to figure out how much more money you’d have if you weren’t buying cigarettes!), and SmokefreeTXT—a support program that provides you with anytime quitting encouragement, advice, and tips.

• The American Heart Association

  also have a wide range of quitting support, as well as an online health risk assessment tool, which lets you work out how to lower your health risks and live more healthily.

• Other links with advice, resources, and strategies for quitting:

  “Nicotine is a Drug” from the New Beginnings Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center lays out “5 essential steps” to quitting and includes a series of self-reflective questions you can ask yourself–and discuss with your doctor/therapist–about why you want to quit as well as what tactics have/have not worked in the past.

Effects of Smoking on Your Health

Dangers of Smoking Quiz

Smoking and Heart Attack Risk

Smoking and Cancer

Quitting Smoking for Seniors: Is It Too Late?

Smokefree.gov | Quit Plan

Quit Smoking Meter

• Make quitting easier with apps!

  Quit is an “application designed to gradually wean you from dependency on cigarettes. Each individual’s step-down program is calculated based on statistical data from other users, and it’s continuously adjusted to your specific smoking pattern. (for Android)

  Kwit “uses game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to encourage people to quit smoking. You reach higher and higher levels and rankings as you try to become the Ultimate Kwitter.” (for iPhone)

  KickSmoking “is designed to help you resist cravings and offer encouragement by keeping a track of the health benefits you’ve unlocked. There’s an in-app craving timer which is accessable as pinned tile. This timer helps take your mind off the craving by giving you an end goal to focus on instead.” (for Windows Phone)

  Or try out Beeminder, “goal-tracking with teeth. Mind anything you can graph [like quitting smoking] by replying with data when Beeminder prompts you. Beeminder combines self-tracking and commitment contracts: keep all your data points on a Yellow Brick Road to your goal or we take your money.” (for Android and iPhone, and connects to devices like Fitbit)