Notes
This book gives general information. It isn't medical or psychological advice, and it's no substitute for a doctor, pharmacist or stop smoking adviser who knows your situation.
I've kept sources out of the chapters where I could so they read easily. Here they are by chapter, with the limits I'm aware of. I read the summaries of these papers and not the full texts, with one exception noted under chapter 3. Where a chapter isn't listed, it rests on my own reasoning. That includes the list of payments in chapter 2 and the account of the break in chapter 6. It also covers the argument about identity in chapter 8.
Before you start. The advice about antipsychotic medicines and antidepressants follows the NHS page "Stopping smoking for your mental health", read in September 2026. The NHS pages I've used are written for England, and services differ elsewhere.
Chapter 3. The speed at which nicotine reaches the brain, its fall over the first twenty minutes and its half-life of about two hours are from Benowitz, Hukkanen and Jacob, "Nicotine chemistry, metabolism, kinetics and biomarkers", Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology 192, 2009, pages 29 to 60. I checked these figures in the full text. The list of withdrawal symptoms is from Hughes, "Effects of abstinence from tobacco: valid symptoms and time course", Nicotine and Tobacco Research 9, 2007, pages 315 to 327. The author notes that the review rested on his own judgement of the studies. Parrott, "Does cigarette smoking cause stress?", American Psychologist 54, 1999, pages 817 to 820. Three replies were published in the same journal in October 2000. The statement that many smokers mistake withdrawal for everyday stress is from the NHS Better Health page "The truth about smoking, stress and mental health".
Chapter 4. Taylor, McNeill, Girling, Farley, Lindson-Hawley and Aveyard, "Change in mental health after smoking cessation: systematic review and meta-analysis", BMJ 348, 2014, g1151. Taylor and others, "Smoking cessation for improving mental health", Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021, issue 3, CD013522. The reviewers judged every included study to be at serious risk of bias, because things that change over time could affect both stopping and mood. They rated the evidence as very low certainty for depression, low for anxiety and moderate for mixed anxiety and depression. Some authors of the 2014 paper had received fees or grants from makers of stop smoking medicines. Cohen and Lichtenstein, "Perceived stress, quitting smoking, and smoking relapse", Health Psychology 9, 1990, pages 466 to 478.
Chapter 5. Heishman, Kleykamp and Singleton, "Meta-analysis of the acute effects of nicotine and smoking on human performance", Psychopharmacology 210, 2010, pages 453 to 469. The effect sizes ran from 0.16 to 0.44. The comparison with a cup of coffee is mine and is meant only to convey scale. The judgement that a smoker ends up behind over a working day is also mine.
Chapter 7. The pattern of nicotine levels through the day and night is from the Benowitz chapter above. The observation that favourite cigarettes follow the longest gaps is my own argument and I haven't cited a study for it. Improved taste and smell within days or weeks is from the NHS Better Health page "Benefits of quitting smoking".
Chapter 8. Shiffman, Paty, Gnys, Kassel and Hickcox, "First lapses to smoking: within-subjects analysis of real-time reports", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 64, 1996, pages 366 to 379. That most smokers start in their teens is widely reported. I haven't cited a figure for it.
Chapter 9. Aubin, Farley, Lycett, Lahmek and Aveyard, "Weight gain in smokers after quitting cigarettes: meta-analysis", BMJ 345, 2012, e4439. The figures in the chapter are for people who stopped without treatment. Two of the authors had received fees from makers of stop smoking medicines. The reasons given for weight gain are the usual ones and I haven't cited studies for them. Doll, Peto, Boreham and Sutherland, "Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors", BMJ 328, 2004, page 1519. All the participants were men, born between 1900 and 1930. The practical suggestions are mine.
Chapter 10. Hughes 2007, as above. Hughes, Keely and Naud, "Shape of the relapse curve and long-term abstinence among untreated smokers", Addiction 99, 2004, pages 29 to 38. The authors say the studies were few and varied. The NHS timings are from the Better Health page "Managing nicotine withdrawal symptoms". The division into two kinds of urge is a common one in stop smoking advice. The claim that belief makes the first week harder is mine, as is the claim that urges weaken when they aren't answered.
Chapter 11. Hartmann-Boyce, Chepkin, Ye, Bullen and Lancaster, "Nicotine replacement therapy versus control for smoking cessation", Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018, issue 5, CD000146. Livingstone-Banks and others, "Nicotine receptor partial agonists for smoking cessation", Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2023. Stead, Koilpillai, Fanshawe and Lancaster, "Combined pharmacotherapy and behavioural interventions for smoking cessation", Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, issue 3, CD008286. Lindson and others, "Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation", Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2025, issue 11, CD010216. This is a living review and is updated as trials report, so check for a newer version. It covered regulated nicotine vapes only. The NHS position on vaping is from the Better Health page "Vaping to quit smoking". Details of stop smoking services are from the NHS page "NHS stop smoking services help you quit". The description of nicotine products as a staged exit is my framing.
Chapter 12. Lindson-Hawley, Banting, West, Michie, Shinkins and Aveyard, "Gradual versus abrupt smoking cessation: a randomized, controlled noninferiority trial", Annals of Internal Medicine 164, 2016, pages 585 to 592. Participants couldn't be blinded to their group and most were white. My explanation of the result isn't the authors'. Plans in "when, then" form are from Gollwitzer and Sheeran, "Implementation intentions and goal achievement", Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38, 2006, pages 69 to 119. The caffeine point rests on Benowitz, Hall and Modin, "Persistent increase in caffeine concentrations in people who stop smoking", BMJ 298, 1989, pages 1075 to 1076. I could confirm only the title and citation of that paper. The advice on single cigarettes, alcohol and the 28-day figure, and the weekly saving, are from the NHS Better Health pages. The plan as a whole is mine and hasn't been tested as a package by anyone.
Chapter 13. The NHS wording on relapse is from the Better Health page "Staying smoke free". The description of how a lapse cigarette tends to feel is my expectation from the mechanism and not a research finding. The advice against counting streaks is mine.