Kick the habit -
It's never easy. Get the support you need.

By by Jun Mahaffie, Special to The Gazette

The problem with quitting a bad habit is that it's really hard. It's even harder when that habit is an addiction. Quitting can lead to other unwanted behaviors. Stop smoking and start eating everything in sight. Snarl at your wife and lads because you quit coffee. Drink more coffee to slow down overeating. While quitting cold turkey does work for some people, many experts agree that approach can be less successful than defining goals, setting realistic time lines and getting support.

"Cold turkey sets people up for failure because minds and bodies just can't adjust so quickly to abrupt changes," said Nurse Practitioner Mary Sheehy of the Frederick, Memorial Hospital Wellness Center. A former smoker who quit 21 years ago, she now teaches smoking cessation classes at the center. She said that people first need to be mentally ready to quit something

The principle is the same, no matter what you're quitting, said Dr. Donald Shell, of the Prince George's County Health Department "The first thing to do is to get the problem into the open and acknowledge it. Then, and only then, can you seek help." When you come out of denial and ignorance about bad habits from nail biting to alcohol abuse - then you can understand why you have that habit, start to quit, and remove the triggers.

Bad habits often belie bigger issues, said Dr. Dennis Kutzer, chief of psychiatry at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster. Behaviors like constantly double- and triple-checking things, compulsive hand washing, fear of contamination, alcoholism and drug use can often be related to obsessive compulsive disorder, chronic depression or a bipolar disorder.

"We use cognitive therapy to help people," Kutzer ' said. "It teaches you how certain thinking patterns cause your symptoms, give you a distorted picture of what's going on in your life, and make you feel anxious depressed or angry, for instance."

With destructive habits like - alcoholism, drug addiction and smoking, you should make yourself accountable to someone else you can trust, said Shell. "That's why groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous work It's the power of association with others with similar problems, in a group dynamic, where you'll educate, encourage and challenge one another."

I busied myself to quit," said Erin Willard, a graphic designer and ex-smoker in Frederick When she was in art school, she made herself stay busy with schoolwork, carrying books, and working on art projects - so that she didn't have time to take a break for a cigarette.

As a student on a budget, she figured her savings were easily more than $20 a 3 week, too. Willard said she started going out less as she got busier, and most of the people she did go out with did not smoke. "That makes it easier to avoid temptation. Eventually, I just didn't want to smoke anymore."

The beginning of the year is always a take-charge time for change, said Beth Kane-Davidson, M.Ed, CAC, director of Suburban Hospital's Outpatient Addiction Center in Bethesda. 'Many people who have been trying to ignore a concern about their drinking or the drinking of a family member will take action." It's essential for anyone-with a destructive addiction to seek support from a professional, she said.

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