By Sampada Anuranjanee Khatiwada

Kathmandu, May 5: While the nationwide lockdown implemented to check the spread of COVID-19 has brought difficulties in lives of many, it has brought about some positive changes in human behaviour.
Along with the environmental changes in the midst of closure of industries and thinner traffic, the lockdown has prompted many people to get rid of bad habits and embrace a healthy lifestyle.
Owing to the COVID-19 scare, many people have been trying to give up their smoking habits.
For an instance, Sujan Dhakal, 24, an IT professional, said, “I started smoking at the age of 19 in high school. I gradually got addicted to it despite being aware that it was injurious to my health.”
“While my parents didn’t know about it, I couldn’t go a day without smoking two to three cigarettes,” Dhakal confessed. “When the lockdown was announced, I was concerned about how would I continue smoking at home.”
Dhakal said that he then decided to take the lockdown as an opportunity to test for how many days he could go without smoking.
“It was very difficult during the first two weeks. I used to sweat a lot and I couldn’t sleep properly at night,” he added. “I used to keep myself busy to not think about smoking.”
Dhakal said that it had been 40 days that he hadn’t smoked. “It feels great. I am glad that I took the lockdown as a challenge to change my habit. I am happier now,” he added.
Likewise, Siddharth Basnet, 29, a banker, said that it had been 10 years since he started smoking.
“I used to think of quitting every time I used to light cigarette. Especially being a father to a seven-month-old child, I was never proud of my smoking habit,” he added.
“While I had previously tried quitting many times, I had never succeeded,” Basnet said. “When the lockdown was announced, we didn’t step out of our houses for one whole week as we had already stocked up the groceries.”
Basnet said that he didn’t step out to buy or blow cigarettes. “I was amazed to see how I was doing just fine without smoking for the entire week.”
“That’s when I decided to give up on my smoking habit. I feel like I am in a happier place now,” he added.
He said that his appetite and sleep cycle had improved for the better after going for a month without smoking. “Also, I used to be short-tempered previously as I had been compromising with my health. Now I feel happy and satisfied to have changed my behaviour for the better.”
Along with the youths, the senior citizens have also been using the lockdown to opt for healthy lifestyle.
“I started smoking when I was

around 25-year-old,” said Laxmi Devi Pathak, 65. “Being an asthma patient, the doctors had recommended me to quit smoking. But I was unable to do so, as it had been my habit.”
“As the COVID-19 disease took over the world, my grand-son who is in the America called me up and told that those who smoke and who have been suffering from asthma are vulnerable and have higher chances to lose their lives to the virus,” added Pathak.
“I was scared. Following the suggestion of my family members and the doctors, I felt that it was high time for me to quit smoking and to start living a healthy life,” she said.
Psychologically, smoking relates to how the brain responds to nicotine, the health experts say.
Initially, nicotine improves mood and concentration, decreases anger and stress, relaxes muscles and reduces appetite, but in the long term it harms human body on many levels.
“In most of the cases, people tend to smoke daily because they think that they’re habituated to it,” said Dr Prakash Budhathoky, a psychologist. “As it is the behavioural change adopted by humans during their adulthood or even teenage, it can be stopped.”
As lockdown has refrained people from stepping out of their houses, this could be a perfect time to quit smoking, he added.
Dr Budhathoky said that the experiences might not be good in the initial days as the brain would be in thirst of nicotine.
“Loss of appetite and sleep, anxiety, restlessness and irritability are normal during the initial days of quitting smoking,” he added. “Keeping the mind busy, exercising, doing other productive things when one feels the urge to smoke and chewing a gum to keep the mouth busy would help in quitting smoking.”