Seasonal Triggers When Quitting Dip

As the calendar flips to the months of September and October it officially marks the beginning of the fall season. The leaves will begin to turn, the winds will start to blow, hunting season, high school football, yard cleanup, and winter prep begins. Even if you've been quit for a while you need to prepare yourself for what I like to refer to as "seasonal triggers".

Every time you encounter a new situation in your quit there is potential for a difficult time. Your brain has been wired for many years to associate dip with certain things. Like Pavlov's dogs when those things occur and you DON'T have your dip you may start to crave - even if you've quit for hundreds of days. There are essentially 4 types of quitters when it comes to seasonal triggers:

1. New Quitters - If you're just now quitting these seasonal triggers will be part of your daily challenges. Keep doing what you've been doing to be successful. Talk to your support network and push through it.
2. First Fall Quitters - If you've quit for some time now but have not dealt with a fall season being quit then this may be rough. You may have craves like you haven't had recently. Get re-engaged. Do what got you here... post roll, talk, drink water, chew gum, etc. Take it one day or one minute at a time.
3. Second Fall Quitters - If you quit last fall then this will be your second fall being done with the nicotine. However watch out... this is the first one where your quit has legs under it. While that sounds like it would be a good thing, it can actually make for a tough time. Last year you were in the early withdrawal. The "seasonal" part of these triggers were irrelevant cause EVERYTHING was a trigger. You may ask yourself "Why am I feeling like this... I've been quit a YEAR!" The short answer is that while you were indeed quit last fall you had too much other stuff on your mind. This is the first fall where your quit isn't "new" and you're probably not actively "worried" about it. Keep on guard. You've done it before and you can do it again.
4. Multi-Fall Quitters - You've been through this before. Fall at this point is just fall. It's a great time and while you may remember yourself as a dipper during this season it's nothing more than a memory. That said, you always need to keep an eye out. Even if you're 2, 3 or more years quit the nicotine can still bite you if you let your guard down.

Enjoy the season folks - Nicotine is out there whispering in your ear but as always she can be beaten back.

Greg "Chewie" Bellan is the owner / co-founder of KillTheCan.org - http://www.killthecan.org/ - which is a site dedicated to helping people quit chewing tobacco in all its forms including chew, dip, snuff, snus, etc. In addition to the main site which is full of information on quitting, KillTheCan.org also offers a blog, a live chat and a community with over 6,000 members.