New and wondering how to quit with mental illness?

[QuittingGirl]

@shy READ EVERYTHING!! AND I MEAN EVERYTHING!!   You will become one of us in a short while, and when I say that, I really mean it!!  Stick around and you will  become like us!  I promise you!!

[greatcall73]

I, too, have a mental health disorder and this disorder has made me relapse to cigarettes everyday for a long time.  I quit today.  Yay me! I am doing cessation - had to have a patch.  The saving grace is I am now a full fledged born again Christian.  I was happy to see someone out there like me who identifies smoking with mental illness.  You are me.  I am drug free 11 years 6 months and kicking cigarettes is a hard thing to master, but have hope because I know if I can do it living with a smoking parent than so can you.  Dying to bolster and take this patch off and move beyond taste.  3 days to go til the Nic is gone.  I pray you be strong, encouraged, and tempered by your own spirituality.

[DenaliBlues]

Welcome @greatcall73! It’s great that you are on the road to your own freedom, as well! There are many sources of strength to help us quit, and I’m glad that you have strong faith in your toolkit. And your other recovery experience will be an asset, too.

 

@shy, good on you for being accountable for your slip. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again. The next time you feel tempted to smoke, immediately distract yourself… watch videos on this forum (I’m sure folks can offer good suggestions), call a buddy, take a walk, do countertop pushups, jump up and down, do the dishes… anything except smoking. My first 2 months of my own quit, my house was RIDICULOUSLY clean, lol.

Edited May 26 by DenaliBlues

[shy]

Well I wanted to give an update. The patches really haven't been working so I am going to attempt cold turkey and see if that helps. I did quit last year for 5 months on the gum. But I keep reading cold turkey has the best chance of lasting. Plus I feel like if I just get the nicotine out as quick as possible it would help keep me off. Nicotine is out of your body in 3 days. In three days it is my nieces birthday so I will be nicotine free for the first time in her life. Once again thank y'all for the help and I'm going to keep going until I can finally quit. 

[shy]

On 5/26/2026 at 4:12 PM, greatcall73 said:

I, too, have a mental health disorder and this disorder has made me relapse to cigarettes everyday for a long time.  I quit today.  Yay me! I am doing cessation - had to have a patch.  The saving grace is I am now a full fledged born again Christian.  I was happy to see someone out there like me who identifies smoking with mental illness.  You are me.  I am drug free 11 years 6 months and kicking cigarettes is a hard thing to master, but have hope because I know if I can do it living with a smoking parent than so can you.  Dying to bolster and take this patch off and move beyond taste.  3 days to go til the Nic is gone.  I pray you be strong, encouraged, and tempered by your own spirituality.

Thank you so much! It means a lot someone out there is truly going through the same situation! You got this!