So how many quit smoking methods are there? Well, I think it is important to address the most well known methods first.
The commonest method of the many quit smoking ways there are is good old fashioned cold turkey. This is most often done by setting a date to quit, preparing oneself for that day and then using your brute willpower to overcome your desire to smoke before probably capitulating after about a day. Of the many quit smoking ways there are, studies suggest cold turkey has about a 1 in 20 chance of success.
The second best known method of the many quit smoking ways there are is Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). Personally, I hate this method of quitting smoking because it uses nicotine to try and help smokers off nicotine. I think that is utterly stupid! It is insane! If you want to read more about my hatred of NRT, read my article at http://quit-smoking-motivator.blogspot.com/2007/03/nicotine-replacement-therapy-scam.html
However, as much as I disagree with the NRT approach to quitting smoking, it does boast a higher success rate than cold turkey with about 1 in 10 people quitting smoking for more than 1 year – but not quitting nicotine! Many people who use this method end up beholden to the drug companies instead of the tobacco companies and they are not free from nicotine addiction.
Another of the many quit smoking ways there are is to use drug such as Zyban (wellbutrin or bupropion) or Chantix (varenicline or champix in the UK). These methods can be combined with NRT but in effect, they interfere with the psychoactive effects of nicotine in the brain. Unfortunately, even the big brain boxes that design these drugs aren't clever enough to know exactly how they work which could be a worry.
Using these drugs can also have side effects ranging from mild to severe. Chantix can cause severe nausea to the point where patients must stop taking the drug and about 1 in 1000 Zyban users end up having seizures.
Hypnosis is another well known if little understood option amongst the many quit smoking ways available to smokers. Whilst there are many sceptics about this process, anecdotal evidence suggests it can be very effective. Furthermore, smokers can either use a hypnotist locally or just buy hypnosis audio courses over the internet. In terms of accessibility and effectiveness, this makes hypnosis a serious consideration for any would-be quitter.
A less well-known method for quitting smoking is the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Hypnosis, where your brain is effectively 're-programmed' to stop you smoking by making alternative emotional associations with your behaviour is the very opposite of CBT.
Instead of masking emotions, using CBT, a smoker takles them head on. Typically, CBT exposes smokers to a series of truths about smoking that are not commonly accepted in society. An example would be that smoking is not a habit; it is an addiction to nicotine – to call it a habit is wrong.
By using CBT to reveal many of the misconceptions of smoking, smokers find that they can have an 'epiphany' moment. This epiphany can reveal to them what smoking is actually all about and it makes it incredibly easy to quit.
The one draw back of the system is that only the smoker can have the epiphany! There is no way that it can be forced upon a smoker so having an open mind is crucial to achieving success with CBT. However, despite this concern, CBT has been seen to be incredibly effective with anecdotal evidence of up to 96% success rates.
Either way, which ever of the many quit smoking ways you may chose, whether it be CBT, NRT, Zyban or hypnosis, the most important approach is to keep trying to quit smoking. Never quit trying to quit!
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. He also blogs quit smoking advice at http://quit-smoking-motivator.blogspot.com Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.
