Best Way To Quit Smoking - Does One Exist?

[olga wood]

In short the answer to the question: "Is there a best way to quit
smoking" is yes. There is a best way to quit smoking for everyone but
the method that may work for you may not work for others. What you
need to do is find out which way is best for you.
There are several methods you can employ to quit smoking. The main
ones are behavioural therapy, hypnosis, drugs, nicotine replacement
therapy, will power and 'alternative' methods. I will give a brief
description of each approach along with its pros and cons.
Is cognitive behavioural therapy the best way top quit smoking?
Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the most successful methods to
help smokers quit with success rates well above 50%. This is not the
same as the standard literature you find all over the place. It is not
the 'set a quit date', 'write out a quit plan', 'stay in and avoid
alcohol' etc. etc. That doesn't work.
Cognitive behavioural therapy breaks smoking down into twenty or so
component parts and changes the way you think about smoking, component
by component. The end result is that all the reasons you think you
smoke for are destroyed and you lose the will to smoke.
It is not a magic bullet. It is just one particularly effective
approach to quitting smoking that uses no drugs whatsoever and leaves
smokers feeling liberated the moment they quit smoking, rather than
being fraught with anxiety. It is cheap when compared to other systems
(less than $50) and is normally sold with a no quibble money back
guarantee.
Is hypnosis the best way to quit smoking?Studies suggest that hypnosis
is successful to the tune of 30% of smokers in single sessions. Using
multiple sessions, success rates of 60% plus have been reported. There
is some evidence that women struggle to quit as readily as men using
hypnosis.
It works by changing a person's mental attitude toward smoking using
powerful visualisation techniques. Hypnosis is similar to neuro-
linguistic programming or NLP. Both use similar relaxation and
meditation techniques to overcome cravings and nicotine withdrawal
symptoms. It is far from suitable for everyone but it is non-chemical
and there are no drugs to use.
Hypnosis products can be bought over the internet for around $50 but
one to one sessions with hypnotherapists can be considerably more
expensive, to the tune of several hundred dollars.
Are drug therapies the best way to quit smoking?The pharmaceutical
industry seems to think so! Zyban is found to work in about 16% of
smokers and Chantix has been found to be about 22% effective. It is
not 44% effective as claimed by Pfizer, its manufacturer.
Drug therapies are almost always used alongside counselling to help
smokers achieve their aims of becoming non-smokers. Drug therapies can
be provided by health authorities or may be included within medical
insurance. They generally cost in excess of $300 to complete the
courses if bought privately.
The downside to drug therapies aside from cost is that you may suffer
from side effects which can be serious enough to stop you using the
drug.
Another downside is that you do not get a money back guarantee with
them, unlike my own book (which uses cognitive behavioural therapy)
and most hypnosis products available on the internet.
Is nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) the best way to quit smoking?
Studies show that NRT can increase you chances of quitting smoking
when compared to people trying to quit cold turkey taking it from
around 5% to around 10%. It comes in the form of 'transdermal'
patches, which deliver nicotine through the skin into the bloodstream.
It also comes as gum or pills (lozenges and microtabs) or plastic
cigarettes or nasal sprays.
Nicotine replacement therapies work on the assumption that smoking
consists of nicotine 'addiction' and the 'habit' of smoking. Smokers
are expected to overcome the 'habit' whilst still getting their
nicotine hit from the NRT product and then they are expected to reduce
their nicotine intake until they are free from cigarettes and nicotine
all together.
The downside of NRT is its expense in relation to the success rate it
achieves. It is just as expensive as smoking and can leave people
still needing the nicotine in the form of gum or lozenges for many
months or even years after quitting smoking. NRT is often used in
conjunction with Zyban to enhance both NRT and Zyban effectiveness.
This makes it twice as expensive of course!
Is willpower the best way to quit smoking?Will power has a very low
success rate and smokers generally need to make several attempts over
several years before they successfully quit smoking. The benefits of
the willpower method are that the long terms success rate is very
high. Chantix, Zyban and NRT approaches to quitting smoking can be
more effective in the short term, but in the longer term, willpower
quitters stay off the smokes for good.
The financial benefit of this method is very good of course because it
doesn't cost a penny! This is however a false economy because it takes
so long to successfully quit, there are a lot of packs of cigarettes
bought between attempts and the final, and successful quit.
Are alternative methods the best way to quit smoking?Alternative
methods include herbal remedies, acupuncture and laser treatments
amongst many others. Anecdotally, these methods have been found to be
successful but the scientific evidence is not available. TV programs
showing how 'successful' each of these treatments can be rely on
interviewing one or two individuals - hence the anecdotal support.
These methods are frequently expensive and rarely come with a money
back guarantee. They are virtually all supported by counselling in the
form of book, audio tapes or one to one sessions.
So what is the best way to quit smoking?My advice is to start by
accepting there is going to be a cost to quitting smoking. There is
going to be a higher cost to continue smoking, not only in terms of
cash, but most significantly in terms of health.
If you want to quit smoking be prepared to accept that you may need to
try several methods before you find your very own best way to quit
smoking. The one that works for you will not be 50% or 30% or 22%
effective - the one that works for you will be 100% effective and that
is what really matters.
Start by considering products that come with money back guarantees so
you can try it and if you fail, you can get your money back. Then move
onto the next system until you come to those solutions that do not
have money back guarantees.
As ever, my advice to any smoker trying to quit is to never stop
trying to quit. Fall down seven times, get up
eight!
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