The Last Puff- A Book Launch

“People are the only animals on earth who take smoke into their lungs for pleasure”. Dr. Sajeela Maini.

Dr. Sajeela Maini

Dr. Sajeela Maini, launched her book in the Gulmohar Hall at the India Habitat Centre recently. The Last Puff is an authoritative book on Tobacco Cessation. The book explains how people have notions and myths about smoking and use them not to quit smoking. She presented a presentation in which she talked about all the myths and the truths associated with them. She also asked some pertinent questions and requested all the smokers to ask the same to themselves.

Tobacco cripples

In her presentation, she first talked about the myths. The first and foremost reason for not quitting is the denial of a smoker. The smoker thinks that she or he is not addicted and can quit anytime. She said that they do that to satisfy their ego and deep down they know that they would require support to quit. The other reason is the failure to quit. People say that they have tried quitting but have failed to do so. Dr. Sanjeela Maini said that these kind of people need to be reassured.

The Last Puff

Fear of failure becomes their mental block. She further adds that willpower is insufficient to quit. It requires a proper method and program. Nicotine is highly addictive and quitting is not a matter of choice for smokers. They need to be given structured intervention and step by step intervention. Also, reducing a cigarette doesn’t necessarily mean you are on your way. Reduction is a self-defeating process. If a person wants to quit, she or he should quit at one go. However it is advisable to take all the support present.

People think that alcohal and cigerettes should be together

She also said that failure of quitting several times lowers the belief in a person. The morale and confidence of the person takes a beating and the self-efficacy to quit gets lost.

Smoking is a trap

She then went onto the excuses people use for smoking. The first one is that alcohol and cigarette is ought to be taken together. The second on the list was smoking improves productivity, which in reality is not the case.

People think that smoking is good for their thinking

In conclusion, she said that the book has several accounts which she had while dealing with smokers. The book also tells that how many smokers were able to quit with a planned and proper program.