Stop Smoking Methods
There are a number of ways to stop smoking. Let’s take a look at each in turn.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
NRT is often where most smokers who want to quit will turn to at first. It is easily available and a single dose seems cheaper than, say, a course of acupuncture or hypnosis although that particular view is quite a short term one.
What are examples of NRT? The most common one is the patch which is like a band-aid (or plaster) and releases nicotine slowly into the body during the day. A new one should be applied each morning and taken off before sleep. Other forms of NRT are nicotine inhalers and nicotine chewing gum.
All of them achieve the same thing. They allow a smoker to stop smoking cigarettes immediately and get their nicotine “fix” from the various products instead. The theory goes that you should cut down on your nicotine dose and after around 12 weeks stop the NRT too.
In the long term, studies have shown that the difference between using NRT and willpower alone is minimally better, at most. Like any stop smoking method, the success rate increases when combined with a support network and other aids.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is quite a popular stop smoking method but many people still find it a taboo subject as it is perceived as “messing” with the mind. In fact, hypnosis has been used with great success to address mental issues such as phobias. Can it work for smoking too?
During hypnosis, a person is put into a trance and various suggestions are given to the patient. Usually these aim to suggest that the cravings should disappear and your willpower is incredibly strong. Hypnosis usually takes around three or more sessions to be effective, after which many people will stop smoking. However, studies have shown that in the long term, many people will find that their cravings come back and they will resume smoking. Unfortunately, hypnosis may work for fear of flying but it is not the magic bullet when it comes to stop smoking methods.
Acupuncture and Laser Therapy
Acupunctures and lasers both work in the same way. They are derived from Eastern philosophies of “energy” or chi. Modern science cannot explain how they work but the explanation given by practicioners is that by stimulating specific points on the body, it will change the internal chemistry and endorphins are released.
These endorphins will then reduce the “pleasure” from cigarettes and also reduce the cravings for them. Hence, after two or three sessions, a person is supposed to be able to quit cigarettes much more easily than using willpower alone. Again, and I have also posted in several specific articles on this site, studies done on acupuncture and laser therapies to see if they are better methods than willpower alone have been inconclusive.
Why Are None Of These Methods Guaranteed To Work?
We are used to the medical world giving us cures that work for at least 90% of people. So why is it that none of the above popular stop smoking methods are even very successful? It seems that studies conflict and fight with each other over small percentages between the methods. None of them are the magic bullet and why is this?
The answer is because they only address the symptoms of an addiction. They only seek to suppress the cravings for an addiction. Addiction is a purely mental affliction which then results in changes in the body. But the root cause is at the mental level. When a person gets hooked on smoking after trying barely a handful of cigarettes, their brain has not changed physically - there is no way that it could have. So the change is a purely mental one and needs to be addressed that way and not by trying to suppress symptoms temporarily.
If you want to learn more about methods that address the mental causes of addiction rather than the physical effects of it, click here.