News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Nicotine cessation program Quit For Life restarting its sessions after a three-year hiatus due to COVID.
Program Facilitator Randy Todd said the program had been operating through Cookeville Regional Medical Center since 1992 before the pandemic. He said they could not be happier to restart this program and help people with their nicotine addiction.
“Gosh you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain so hey come on, it works,” Todd said. “We’ve done it for 30 years and it’s got such a success rate. We like to say if you’ll work with the program, the program will work for you.”
Todd said the 8-week program meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Algood room at CRMC. He said it is a gathering of like-minded individuals all working to end their nicotine habits, whether that is vaping, dipping, or smoking.
Todd said anyone can quit, and 75 percent of the work is mental. He said meeting with people going through the same thing can add a support system to make quitting more achievable.
“It’s a proven scientific fact that there’s a psychological addiction center of our brain so the best that we way can do brain surgery, because I’m a retired construction worker you don’t want me opening your head up and getting in there, the best way is through your ears,” Todd said. “So people come in there and we tell them what to expect, we get them prepared, we tell them what to do and what not to do. And we work on the addiction through their ears. By hearing what we’re saying, it reaches the reasoning side of their brain and allows it to take back control of their addiction.”
