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Now that your quit day is here, let's talk about slips and relapses. A slip is when you smoke one or
two times after your quit date, but you still want to quit. A relapse is when you go back to smoking
the way you did before, and give up your attempt to quit.
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Fact: Many smokers try to quit several times before succeeding.
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If you slip — and many ex-smokers do — it's natural to feel bad. The problem is that feeling bad can lead
to the self-defeating conclusion that your plan isn't working. That's simply not true. A slip is a slip,
nothing more, unless you let it become a relapse.
After a slip:
- Be positive. Forgive yourself. Get rid of all your cigarettes.
- Slips are learning opportunities — think about your triggers and how to change your behavior. More on understanding triggers
- Remember, one cigarette does not make you a smoker. You haven't failed. You just need to adjust and stay with it. You can do it!
After a relapse:
- Don't panic — set a new quit date when you're ready to try again, and make it soon.
- Try to figure out why you started smoking again and how to avoid the same situation.
- Think how successful you were. Review your quit plan and prepare to move on.
- If you did not take advantage of an individualized quit plan from Committed Quitters® and Commit®, you should strongly consider trying it in your next quit attempt. Learn more about Committed Quitters now.
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