Bear,
I think it's a combination of both the quit AND personal drama that causes emotional problems. I've been around this site for over 2 years now and have noticed many cyclical patterns. One of them is that around season changes, more people tend to crave, even people relatively later in their quits, because they haven't gone through that season (and all of the triggers that come with it) yet. The more times we encounter a specific trigger, the weaker the trigger becomes. So, let's say somebody0 quit in September. But when the weather is nice, they loved to sit out on the porch and smoke. Well, when Spring and nice weather comes along, 6 months later, that person might initially have a hard time with that trigger, even though he/she is 6 months into the quit. Another example would be somebody who quit smoking in the Spring or Summer, or even late Winter who has to face Christmas Holiday paries, and might not have ever had to deal with that trigger yet. That person could be quite far into the quit, but may still have difficulities because that trigger hasn't been conquered yet. They say that it takes 12-18 months to be fully over this addiction, and I believe that because we have to go through each season and deal with the triggers that come with it.
Another thing is the common low points in a quit like 30 & 100 days. MANY people tend to have difficulties around those days, even though many consider someone with 100 days to be an "oldie."
The biggest thing though is that each quit is different. Just because others are having difficulties doesn't mean that you will. I know for me, when I first quit, I put those with 3 or 4 weeks or more on a pedestal because to me, they were oldies! So, when somebody who had more days on their meters than me slipped or relapsed, I had an extremely hard time with it. But the thing is that nobody is infalliable. We can ALL fall, even several years down the line. Smoking is a choice, be it day 1 or day 1,000. That the choice gets easier to make as time goes by, but we are ALL just "one away from a pack a day" as many say here.
So I guess what I'm saying is that each quit is different and no matter how long somebody has been quit, they might still encounter triggers that they haven't ever dealt with before that can cause them to have hard times. The thing to keep in mind though is that this doesn't have to happen to YOU. Try to focus on your own quit and not the quits of others.
I'd like to ask the same question as Penitent, "how are YOU doing?" Is there something going on in your quit that is causing you to have difficulties?
Crave the Quit!
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]6/17/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 734
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 18,350
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $3,031.42
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 51 [B]Hrs:[/B] 18 [B]Mins:[/B] 31 [B]Seconds:[/B] 18
