Hilary's GP had been trying to persuade her to quit for some
time and the combination of group support and free medication meant
that the programme presented her with the ideal scenario to finally
make her quit attempt.
She really enjoyed the clinic and looked forward to going every
week. Quitting with a group of other like-minded people with a
common goal gave Hilary an extra sense of motivation - despite
differences in age or reasoning, they were all there to encourage
each other. "The advisors were great and very supportive," she
added. "They let us, as the group, interact and were really just
there as guidance."
In addition to the group support, which she found extremely
beneficial, Hilary also found that the Nicotine Replacement Therapy
really helped too: "I followed the instructions given to me by the
advisors very rigidly and I believe that it was a major factor in
my success."
Hilary added: "I think there were three main reasons why my quit
attempt was so successful. Firstly, the group setting and the
commitment I had to the other people there, secondly, the patches,
which really helped with the cravings, but lastly, the fact that I
absolutely wanted to stop. You have got to be ready to quit and
only each person knows when they are."
Since she successfully quit, Hilary has regularly attended the
monthly relapse prevention sessions. The mixture of people at
different stages of the quitting process help to keep her focussed
and realistic about the future as a non-smoker.
Hilary is really pleased that she stopped smoking and would
suggest that anyone wanting to quit should join the clinic.
Following her own success, Hilary recommended the clinic to a
friend, who has now been abstinent for a year and her colleague
from work will be attending in the New Year.
