Techniques for Cessation
The various techniques for smoking cessation are:
| • | Attending a self help group |
| • | Using self help books which claim to have high rates of success |
| • | Acupuncture |
| • | Herbal preparations |
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is proving to be a very useful weapon for smoking cessation patients. The patients who opt for cessation programs are more likely to quit smoking by using hypnotherapy than other methods of cessation. Patients who participate in the hypnotherapy sessions are likely to quit smoking in six months. Patients suffering from cardiac diagnosis are also expected to quit smoking within six months of cessation. According to Faysal Hasan of the North Shore Medical Center, Salem, hypnotherapy is a very effective tool to incorporate in a cessation program.
It has been observed on a wide scale that hypnotherapy, when used for smoking cessation, has achieved a staggering 66% success rate. In contrast, cessation programs like NRT (25%) and behavior therapy (25%) are lagging far behind. There is no method suggested by the scientific research that has a success rate as high as hypnotherapy. However, all hypnosis programs do not produce the same results. If you want to be really successful in getting rid of smoking through hypnotherapy, you need to take care of a few points.
Hypnotherapy requires a minimum of four sessions. Therefore you need to attend each of these four sessions with utmost sincerity and promise. Not every psychologist who excels in hypnotherapy should be consulted for cessation purposes. There are certain licensed psychologists who have the access to specific protocols on which the research is based upon. Therefore you need to take care that the therapist you are consulting is a licensed one or else the results that you seek from your hypnotherapy program will not be achieved. It is very difficult to find a licensed hypnotherapist who is expected to deliver the results as desired. The quality of these hypnotherapists varies over a wide range. Therefore you must do some bit of research before you choose a therapist.
Hypnotherapy is a very costly affair, especially if you want to go for a quality hypnotherapist. Normally, the charge for one session is around $200, which makes it $800 for the entire procedure. If you really can afford this price, then you must make sure that the therapist you are consulting has a doctorate in psychology and is able to provide proof that he is officially licensed to practice hypnotherapy; otherwise you are just wasting your money.
If you find this method way beyond your budget, you can also try audio hypnosis programs which have become very popular. They are very affordable as they come in compact discs (CDs) and you can listen to them whenever and as often as you want. There are various programs which provide hypnotherapy at home. The main features of these programs are:
| • | Motivation : These programs help in imbibing in you a very strong desire to quit smoking forever. They give you all the reasons to stop smoking and to lead a better life. The basic idea behind this is to help you strengthen your decision to begin the cessation program. |
| • | Disown any connections : If you are really motivated enough to quit smoking, you need to overcome your past connections with cigarettes. You should change the way you think about them and feel about them. Make them your biggest enemy and forget that you were ever close to them. |
| • | Start again : Build up your mind as if you are about to start a new life altogether. Make preparations for the future and fill up your mind with healthy alternatives. Do not think about cigarettes and always keep with yourself a substitute which you can use whenever you are feeling restless. |
| • | Relapse : Relapse is one thing that should be taken extra care of. Relapse means the inability of the patient to carry on with the cessation program. You cannot succumb to the temptation of falling into the smoking trap again. Instead, keep telling yourself that you are now a smoke free person. However, a relapse is not a failure but merely a learning opportunity for the patients. |
Every hypnosis session lasts for about an hour and those who have tried this program report that not only did they find quitting easy, the sessions were also very relaxing and helped them ease out their daily stress.
These programs also give information about the following issues:
| • | Concentration and Energy |
| • | Assertiveness |
| • | Weight Control |
| • | Aversion Therapy (Associating smoking with unpleasant experiences) |
| • | Control without Cigarettes |
The audio sessions are helpful in preventing relapse and help in resolving the said issues. They are available through the internet as well and their cost is generally in the range of $150 - $200.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Nicotine Treatment Therapy or NRT is a method of treatment of nicotine dependency. A person who is using NRT can reduce the mortality and morbidity rates because of the lack of many other toxic chemicals which are associated with smoking tobacco, including carbon monoxide. The Nicotine Replacement Therapy can be discontinued if the patient is more comfortable with the environment and emotional state associated with his nicotine usage. Although many experts incorporate NRT in active smokers as well, its role in the reduction of tobacco addiction is still debatable. NRT should be used as long as it is necessary for the patient to be in the state of abstinence. Nicotine Replacement Therapy is most suited for cardiac patients as it proves to be a better alternative to the nicotine intake through tobacco smoking. The use of NPT has its side effects as well. These include burning in throat, hiccups if quickly chewed, dental problems, disturbed sleep and nightmares, dry mouth, insomnia and local skin reaction. However, after following the Nicotine Replacement Therapy for some time, the patient is able to control when to take nicotine and in what quantities, oral and hand to mouth gratification, can control craving for 24 hours, alleviate depression and can delay gain in weight when in use.
Medicines and pharmacologic treatment for tobacco addiction is merely limited to the biophysical aspect of dependence on nicotine. Nicotine dependence needs to be framed as tobacco addiction in order to help the patients explore their spiritual, social, behavioral and psychological aspects of the problem on a more personal level.
The behaviors associated with tobacco addiction are:
| • | The feel of tobacco smoke in the mouth and throat. |
| • | The comfort associated with smoking and taking frequent breaks for it. |
| • | The handling of the cigarette. |
| • | Any other association that a smoker has with the addiction in a positive manner. |
In order to recover from tobacco addiction, one has to drastically change his or her lifestyle, thinking, social circle, values and the awareness that addiction to tobacco will only lead to a relapse. While undergoing smoking cessation programs, smokers usually feel deep and strong reactions that include anger, sadness, depression, denial and acceptance. Addiction to tobacco and nicotine is a chronic disease that can be treated with proper interventions and treatments. During the cessation, dependency on other substances like alcohol, cocaine, caffeine etc can make the recovery from tobacco addiction all the more difficult. The patients should learn to avoid the risk of a relapse if they want to live without cigarettes for the rest of their lives.
Hospitalized Patients
Each time a smoker is hospitalized, it is a very good opportunity for him to quit smoking because the patient is in a period when abstinence is very much mandatory. It is required to stop smoking for some time before surgery and radiotherapy. Even after discharge from the hospital, brief relapse prevention measures need to be taken in order to allow continual abstinence.
The following steps should be taken by the hospitals to encourage smoking cessation:
| • | Pre surgery clinics should be instructed to offer advice on smoking cessation |
| • | The patients who are hospitalized should be made aware of the hospital’s status of being smoke free. |
| • | The hospital staff should assess the smoking status of the patients during admission and advise the smokers to quit and assist in the cessation efforts for all those who are interested. |
Smoking is very common among people having some mental illness. The proportion of people having mental illness and addicted to smoking is as high as 80% to 90% where as people addicted to smoking and not having mental illness is 20% to 30%. These people have to face many hurdles in order to quit smoking. If smoking cessation is to be made possible for these people, then special treatments need to be devised for these people. People who are suffering from Schizophrenia show increased medication effects during cessation, especially withdrawal. They also don’t require a higher dose of psychiatric medication. However, it is necessary to keep a regular track of the psychiatric symptoms, drug doses and their side effects during cessation. Stress management and relaxation should be incorporated into the smoking cessation strategies.
People who suffer from major recurrent depression are more likely to be severely dependent on nicotine. It is well known that nicotine alleviates depression and causes calmness and pleasure. Therefore, these people are also difficult to treat in the smoking cessation programs. These smokers are known to be less successful at quitting. During cessation, if the levels of depression in such people are somehow increased, then occurrence of a relapse becomes almost inevitable. So it is very important to address the patient’s depression at a very initial stage. These smokers are also known to suffer from depressed moods during withdrawal, which is related to their smoking cessation relapse.