European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 28, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes wednesday september 28, 1977 what s most important is a firm desire to Stop want to quit smoking help is easy to find ninth in a 10-Day series of articles by staff writer Bob Hoyer so you want to quit smoking difficult As it May seem abstaining from tobacco is not the traumatic experience that so Many smokers considered it to be just a generation ago. Thirty million americans now Are living proof that it is possible to give up smoking and in so doing they have proved once again that mind is More powerful than matter. The number of americans smoking is still formidable. But smokers now Are in the minority. The National Clearing House for smoking and health education Esti mates there Are 54 million smokers in the . Approximately 25 per cent of the population. One of every three americans 12 years of age and older still smokes but the figure is Down from 42 per cent just 12 years ago. Or. Daniel Horn Clearing House director Points out that the number of smokers would be much greater if so Many Ameri cans had not Given up the habit. By con Trast with the 30 million former smokers of today there were Only 6 million who had kicked the habit in the 1950s. Horn cites the statistics to prove that quitting the Weed is not the impossible achievement that so Many smokers have claimed it to be. Indeed for smokers who want to quit and the american cancer society reports that at least 25 million americans have expressed a desire to Stop smoking plenty of help is available. Wanting to quit is the first and most important step. Without that first step there is Little Chance that smokers will shake the habit decision is half the fight doctors and behavioural therapists invariably agree that once the smoker has decided to quit half the Battle against tobacco is won. All methods for stopping the habit break Down into the cold Turkey or abrupt approach to quitting or the gradual weaning from smoking. Either Avenue May be tried on an individual basis or through group therapy. Many individuals who find it difficult to make it through the Day alone without the companionship of their cigarettes find Solace in others suffering the same withdrawal symptoms. The american cancer society and other health groups dealing with preventive Medicine conduct clinics to help the smoker and the National Clearing House offers the Public smoking kits which out line methods to kick the habit. In Europe several . Military Hospi tals  programs designed to help the smoker. At the army s 97th general Hospital Frankfurt smokers Are invited to clinics that stress the need for the group approach to a gradual weaning from tobacco in the army s 2nd general Hospital Lan Stuhl Germany the group approach is built around the abrupt break with the habit. Both programs stress the group support Ive concept. Or. William Doerr who conducts smoker clinics at the 97th, feels it is too much to ask longtime smokers to break the habit cold Turkey. He has designed the smoker s clock which is a device to make the smoker aware of the habit to put the smoker on schedule rather than to continue smoking by unconscious cues. With the clock smokers Are assigned a cigarette quota for the first week that is determined by their consumption at the time they enter the clinic. A smoker doing a pack and a half a Day would be put on a two cigarette per hour schedule. By progressively halving the number of cigarettes smoked in successive weeks the smoker weans himself of the habit. At the opening sessions of clinics Doerr invites those who Are not serious about giving up smoking to leave then explains the smoker s clock and the concept of gradual weaning. After the initial session smokers Divide into smaller groups for daily meetings that May last up to eight weeks. At subsequent meetings they Are on their own but Doerr is available for consultation. The idea of gradual weaning is to slowly eliminate the nicotine which is the addictive agent in tobacco Doerr said. By putting smokers on a schedule they become very Well aware of their smoking smoking can do Gotsch said. But not everyone can quit that Way. If they Don t really get a scare Many people just continue to smoke. I think people have to want to quit. Some will read 50,000 scare reports and continue to puff  in order to motivate smokers who say they want to quit and can to some pro Grams Deal with the Why behind the smoker s needs. An american heart association format to kick the habit urges the smoker to keep a score card on which the whys for smoking Are tallied under six reasons stimulation handling pleasure relaxation tension reduction psychological addiction the question of quitting gets Down to a matter of self esteem. Does the crazy Little cigarette have that much Power Over you that s the question the smoker has to ask patterns. And eventually they become embarrassed because of the games they play to keep up the  Eric David a retired army nurse now living in Wiesbaden Germany is con Vinced that the smoker s clock is an effective tool in kicking the cigarette habit. Normally you grab a cigarette without thinking about it says David who at tended a clinic at the 97th nine months ago. A smoker for 30 years David was doing two packs a Day at the time he entered the  the 2nd general maj. Sherry brah Man radiologist and her husband give climes that Are patterned after the seventh Day adventist National program to help smokers. We use the comprehensive approach. This Means group therapy films discussions and talks Are All part of the format that runs Over five evenings in the Hospital she said. There is no smoking at these sessions. The quitting is cold Turkey. We feel it s Best to make a clean break. We try to arrange a Well balanced healthful program so the effects of withdrawal Are minimized groups at the Hospital have averaged about 20 persons but Brahman says the program can be effectively used with much larger groups. Both Brahman and Doerr warn those who quit not to be tempted to resume smoking As most Likely the habit will return. To me the smoker is just like the Alco Holic. If he goes Back to that one cigarette he s going to Start smoking again Doerr said. Just about All prescriptions for quitting smoking Deal with motivation. The motivation can come from a sudden awareness that smoking is a Long term risk or it can come dramatically from a scare that frightens the smoker. Psyched himself out with release of the surgeon general s report on smoking in 1964, col. Saul Holtz Man chief of psychiatry at the 97th Gener Al became convinced of the High risks of cigarette smoking. I simply psyched myself out of the habit by looking at the slides of diseased lungs then every time i wanted a cigarette i flashed that picture in my mind Holtzman said. Gradually the urge to smoke  it. Col. Geneva Gotsch chief of nursing services at the air Force Hospital in Hahn Germany quit after a bout with pneumonia. The pneumonia gave me the motive i needed to quit. I really was sick. They stuck me in an oxygen tent. When you can hardly breathe you realize what harm and habit. Behaviour lists dealing with the habit Point out that when smoking assumes a personality trait the individual often finds it difficult to quit because of the change in personality that quitting would impose. Such traits often shape the image of famous personalities. Actor Edward g. Robinson is remembered for his cigars newscaster Edward r. Murrow for his Chain smoking of cigarettes. Some smokers no doubt deceive them selves into believing they want to quit when they really Don t. Others who May feel threatened by the prospects of not smoking say they can see no reason to quit when in fact they know that smoking is a health Hazard and Down deep would like to quit. Most want to quit despite rationalizations for continuing smoking there is evidence that a majority of smokers would like to quit Given Strong enough motives for doing so. Results of a Survey of 12,000 persons by the National Clearing House and the National cancer Institute indicate that 61 per cent of cur rent smokers have made at least one Seri Ous attempt to Stop smoking. Overall nine of 10 smokers say they have either tried to Stop smoking or would probably do so if there was an easy Way. Some smokers have quit with the help of hypnosis but this often offers Only a temporary solution. Others have taken medi cation or antismoking tablets chewed gum sucked lollipops or made dramatic changes in their lifestyle in order to get along without tobacco. Col. Charles r. Queen chief of aeromedical services at Rhein main a even favors gimmicks it they help the smoker  is your bag try it. You can sit on the East Side of the building. You can take an enema do whatever you have to do to quit Queen said. Ultimately All approaches Point Back to motivation. I can Only help the smoker if he wants to help himself says Doerr. There is no magic to the smoker s  maj. Richard Bell a surgeon at the 97th general who quit smoking after participating in a Hospital clinic for smokers sees it As a problem that relates to person Al control. The question of quitting gets Down to matter of self esteem. Does the crazy Little cigarette have that much Power Over you that s the question the smoker has to ask Bell said. You have to come to the realization that you Are an addict that you Are going to go through withdrawal of some kind. If a person is not committed to stopping and if you have a cigarette the first time the urge nits then you won t be Able to quit. Peer pressure Felt i was at a Low Point when i wanted to quit and could t. Now that i have quit my self esteem has  Bell says that peer pressure he was the Only smoking doctor on the 97th surgical staff the help of other smokers in the clinic and a fitness program that includes running All  break the habit. Running helps with my resolve not to smoke. Smoking makes it hard to get into shape he said. Or. Donald t. Frederickson former director of smoking control programs in new York City and a National authority on the subject says that with resolve and work every cigarette smoker can kick the habit. Brahman is equally convinced that smokers can break the hold of tobacco Over their lives. About 50 per cent nationally give up smoking after exposure to our approach she said. But at Lan Stuhl we Don t Deal with percentages. We have held clinics in which everyone quit. Everyone can quit. It s really a matter of being Captain of your own  tomorrow the great debate Over smoking enters its most crucial phase of Tab it Wedul take More 7h/wto