Widely used quit smoking products such as nicotine patches and gums could really make the problem worse by perpetuating the addiction at a low dosage that does not relieve the withdrawal craving. Add to this the fact that the smoker continues to spend not insignificant amounts, with nothing to show for it in terms of defeating nicotine dependency.More conspicuous, the heavy marketing of such quit smoking patches has a similar, unconscious, conditioning effect to the promotion of smoking itself - and you don't want to be hooked on nicotine patches forever. At best this leaves the smoker confused.
Anti-depressant drugs :
Anti-depressant drugs are known to help withdrawal. Brupopion (Zyban being it's more well known name) is the most popular, and success rates of up to 30 per cent are claimed both as a stand-alone remedy and also in association with nicotine replcement therapy combined with guidance or counseling.
In some cases there have been disturbing side effects and it is a fairly expensive drug, usually prescribed for a period of some months. The same unaccounted variables as with NRT may apply.
Smokers often have other requirements to stop when they undergo an expensive smoking cessation process such as this ( the effects of smoking and lung cancer ) or example) and the effect of this cannot be distinguished in the published results. As motivation is cited universally as the single most important factor in giving up smoking, the results of drug-based quit smoking programs are not reliable. Most importantly they do not address the habitual beh avior and psychological factors involved.
Hardly any studies measure effectiveness beyond 18 months in any case, so this is not a measure of permanent withdrawal, with which we are concerned in this article.
Many therapists make similar qualifications. For example, Schneider et al. highlighted that mere dispensing of nicotine gum actually resulted in a lower quit rate with active gum than with placebo treatment (8% nicotine gum, 13% placebo gum).
In actuality, the product inserts for all transdermal nicotine remedies indicate that it should be used as part of a quit smoking treatment program. Of course most patients simply buy and apply the patches like sticking plaster. Without any behavioral help, we can therefore expect very low quit rates with nicotine patches.
Drugs are addictive just like cigarettes, of course, and repetitive attempts at quitting smoking mean repeat sales and more profit. The fact that these profits fund major research programs helps to explain why the truth about the relative effectiveness of quit smoking products does not reach the average smoker.
( by Michelle Spencer
Anti-depressant drugs :
Anti-depressant drugs are known to help withdrawal. Brupopion (Zyban being it's more well known name) is the most popular, and success rates of up to 30 per cent are claimed both as a stand-alone remedy and also in association with nicotine replcement therapy combined with guidance or counseling.
In some cases there have been disturbing side effects and it is a fairly expensive drug, usually prescribed for a period of some months. The same unaccounted variables as with NRT may apply.
Smokers often have other requirements to stop when they undergo an expensive smoking cessation process such as this ( the effects of smoking and lung cancer ) or example) and the effect of this cannot be distinguished in the published results. As motivation is cited universally as the single most important factor in giving up smoking, the results of drug-based quit smoking programs are not reliable. Most importantly they do not address the habitual beh avior and psychological factors involved.
Hardly any studies measure effectiveness beyond 18 months in any case, so this is not a measure of permanent withdrawal, with which we are concerned in this article.
Many therapists make similar qualifications. For example, Schneider et al. highlighted that mere dispensing of nicotine gum actually resulted in a lower quit rate with active gum than with placebo treatment (8% nicotine gum, 13% placebo gum).
In actuality, the product inserts for all transdermal nicotine remedies indicate that it should be used as part of a quit smoking treatment program. Of course most patients simply buy and apply the patches like sticking plaster. Without any behavioral help, we can therefore expect very low quit rates with nicotine patches.
Drugs are addictive just like cigarettes, of course, and repetitive attempts at quitting smoking mean repeat sales and more profit. The fact that these profits fund major research programs helps to explain why the truth about the relative effectiveness of quit smoking products does not reach the average smoker.
( by Michelle Spencer
Having the courage to learn how to quit smoking is not enough to help you give up smoking for good. To make it easier, you need a route map that shows exactly how to stop smoking, with a list of all the pitfalls and hazards to avoid along the way )
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