Show of Hands

Christine, thanks for thinking about your child and actually stopping. Now you need to value yourself and take care.

Gradual is always better because you're training your body to go without. Cold turkey sets you up for a much higher chance of starting again.

Sudden: 60% of the time it works every time

I quit smoking cold turkey. I was on a pack a day, then I just got bored with it and stopped.

As long as it is not an addiction that your body has become dependent on like alcohol or cigarettes, the sudden stop is the best.

Congratulations!!!!

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It's called a like button people. Lets get to it. C'mon you know you want to. First 10 likes get a prize.

Tabasco sausage sounds good!

That's wonderful, happylife. I hope he is doing well.

Best way-nicorette gum. Worked for me. 6 years and no cigarette.

Cold turkey is hard but gradual doesn't work. With gradual it's hard to limit yourself and you feel guilty anytime you do it so you can't even enjoy it.

Awesome!

That must have been tough. I agree with you that coffee may be one of the few where weaning would be better.

My dad was a severe alcoholic for many decades. When I was 18, his dr told him quit drinking or die very soon (he was 63 @ the time). We assumed dad was going to die w/ that choice but he just said I guess I'll stop drinking. Sober for 18 yrs this April Fools Day!

Cold-turkey is better I think. But not many have the willpower to do it.

Kill?

I went from coffee every day to no caffeine at all the next. I felt like absolute s**t for two weeks. Gradual reduction could have probably prevented that.

If it involves severe withdrawal symptoms gradual is better. The whole process is gradual anyway. You might stop the substance or behavior quickly but relearning alternate coping behaviors takes time. Sometimes months and years.

*Sees my favorite Asian junk food, Pocky*

SCREW THE DIET IM EATIN' IT ALL

Cold Turkey. . . Thanksgiving reference or coincidence? If not a coincidence, pretty clever Tony!

How do you wean yourself from posting on ...

If you are dealing with an alcoholic or drug addict that is a good way if you are looking to kill them. Complete abstinence with a medical detox if necessary.

@shovel, obviously haven't done heroin!

Big difference between a habit and an addiction.

I gave up Twinkie's overnight.

Severe alcoholism can result in death if the addict isn't weaned. Same with some other drugs.

I once tried quitting cigarettes warm turkey...f&$@ing catastrophe!

my quit plan is I'll lose one lung, then I'll lose the other...and that's it

Is adding comments to SoH polls suddenly a bad habit!?!

Huh?

In all honesty, I need to learn an easy way to start good habits. :-)

easy to say if you're not a smoker. my wife works in the substance abuse/addiction field and she would rather work with a heroin addict than a cigarette smoker.

The only bad habit I had was smoking. After trying to taper down gradually I just stop one day, cold turkey. It's tough but 20 years latter still off the butts.

All habits are part of the lifestyle. Changes in lifestyle should be accomplished gradually unless life threatening. Cold Turkey leads to obsessive desire.

Overeating: "Today I will eat healthy."
An hour later: " Krispy Kremes? Screw it."

Sometimes the habit is not the real issue.

Any habit that I have broken successfully was cold turkey. For me, gradual is too enticing to resume previous behavior. But like some others have commented, it depends on the habit and the person.

A habit should be quit cold Turkey but an addiction sometimes gradually to cushion severe withdrawal. Quitting a street drug is way different from quitting jaywalking.

Sauce! Wtf spellcheck!! I'm walking away from my phone for a minute!

I dot know bout u guys but I like my Tabasco sausage! Lol

Exactly. Alcohol as well as many other addiction withdrawals can kill you. Tabasco is one of the hardest, but I was able to quit cold turkey about 10 years ago. I still get cravings almost everyday, and I had only 1/2pack a day for about 8 yrs. I know people can have it a lot worse, but u won't die

Depends on the habit and the person.

It doesn't matter what u quit u should just get it out of your life

I quit biting my nails one finger at a time

Well depends on the habit. Some there aren't steps

For me it has to be all at once. Every bad habit that I have kicked has been cold turkey including stopping smoking.

If the determination is there, either should work. If its not, either will fail miserably. Like a fat person declaring they are going on a diet, starting on January 1st. If you really wanted to lose the weight, you'd start today.

This really is subjective. Different strokes for different folks.

Anything I ever quit, I quit cold turkey. It's too easy to quit the gradualness when you're quitting anything gradually :) Mind you, I don't have an addictive personality so I've never really been addicted to anything illegal or life-threatening per say & all of my addictions are fairly short-lived

Good for you!