Program helps students quit

Anne Reese was a smoker. But a hiking trip on the mountains of Colorado changed her life. It forced her to choose between her health and her habit.\n"One year I went on a hiking trip with some of my friends from college in Colorado, and as we began to climb higher, I began to feel sick," Reese said. "I felt so sick that I couldn't continue hiking. I asked myself why I couldn't finish the trip like my friends and that's when I realized that the difference between me and my friends was that I smoked. I was so embarrassed that I decided to quit."\nAs a former smoker, Reese's testimony is a useful tool in helping students realize there is hope for them as well. Reese, director of health and wellness at the IU Health Center, counsels students with the center's Stop Smoking Consultation program.\n"I find that it is very effective in helping others to quit when they know that I have gone through the same thing," Reese said.\nThe Stop Smoking Consultation program has gone through changes to improve its overall effectiveness for students since its inception in 1988, when it was a group-oriented consultation. The consultation became one-on-one about five years ago. \n"Individual sessions seemed to be a more efficient use of students' time mainly because of logistical reasons," Reese said. "Students could e-mail me and coordinate a follow up session if necessary."\nWhen people quit smoking, some common symptoms of withdrawal are: feeling lightheaded or dizzy, coughing, slight depression, anxiousness, insomnia and trouble concentrating. \nReese said most of the students she sees are already motivated to quit. She said she gives them the support and reassurance they need to stop successfully.\nAlthough Stop Smoking Consultation has tried to become more effective for students, the path toward quitting has its share of complications. One such complication is that smoking has become such a significant part of their lifestyle that it is awkward to manage a life without it.\n"Most students want to smoke and quit at the same time," Reese said. \nGraduate student Young Chung has struggled with the difficulties of trying to quit smoking for years.\n"I smoke about 20 cigarettes a day. I tried to quit one time but it only lasted 12 hours," he said. "Smoking caused me to have a sore throat and the sore throat forced me to quit. But after taking some cough drops my throat felt better and I started smoking again." \nChung said he remains doubtful about the effectiveness of Stop Smoking Consultation. \n"I want to quit, but I don't think that it will help. It is an individual thing," he said. \nStop Smoking Consultation is located in the Health Center and is accessible to both IU students and Bloomington residents. The consultation is one of the many services supported by student health fees.\n"The consultation is free to IU students and their spouses, siblings, roommates and even is available to a non student, especially if that person is living with or spends a lot of time around a student who is trying to quit smoking," Reese said.\nThe Bloomington Hospital has a group-oriented program similar to Stop Smoking Consultation called "Clearing the Air."\nBloomington resident Felice Barber is one of the participants in "Clearing the Air" who has successfully quit smoking.\n"The support is definitely a great help," Barber said. "I think I would have started again without the support."\nAlthough the primary goal of Stop Smoking Consultation is to empower students with the tools needed to stop smoking, success is not determined by the number of students that decide to quit. \n"I'm not really frustrated if students don't quit," Reese said. "There is no magic formula that guarantees success. I feel positive about helping to create the atmosphere that will help reduce the risk of all types of diseases. At the end of the day I know I helped that student change their lifestyle."\nFor more information about Stop Smoking Consultation, call the IU Health Center at 855-7338.\n-- Contact staff writer Joshua Hamm at jodhamm@indiana.edu.