Help! Hubby is 37 years old and has been a smoker for 20+ years. He has also had depression for the last ten plus years, as well as sleep problems. He was just diagnosed with PTSD this past week. Where to start???
“I just wanted to write and say how much impact Bella (sic) has had on my life even though I have never met her!
“Ten years ago I began my journey to quit cigarettes and started listening to her quitting cigarettes CD. I listened to it every single day, sometimes twice a day, for over one year. I swear, I knew the thing by heart.
“I tried to quit about five times previously. But the guided imagery tapes made the difference this time around. On April 3 of this year, I will be celebrating my 10 year anniversary.
“In addition, I lost my job last year and began applying for jobs and going on interviews in this crazy economy. It seemed like I always came in second. My self esteem started to slip as well as my confidence.
“I remembered that I had purchased Bella's confidence CD a few years prior and started listening to it every single day. Mostly, I just ended up falling asleep while it played but I know my subconscious picked up on the important issues.
“Long story short, I just got a new job as a manager!
“Again, thanks so much. I could not have had these successes without your input.
A new, two-year study by Christine Wynd out of the University of Akron demonstrates the power of guided imagery (ours , in fact!) - to double the abstinence rate among people who quit smoking
Nursing Researcher Christine Wynd from the University of Akron’s College of Nursing studied the impact of guided imagery on smoking cessation and long-term abstinence in adult smokers.
Wynd used a repeated measures design with 71 smokers who were
recruited from a hospital outpatient clinic - 38 in the intervention
group, and 33 in the control group.
Both groups received educational and counseling sessions in their homes.
The intervention group was provided with additional instruction in the
use of guided imagery and was encouraged to practice this imagery at
least once per day with a 20-minute audiotaped exercise for
reinforcement (The Health JourneysStop Smoking
audio program). The repeated measures included smoking rates (number of
cigarettes per day) that were measured and confirmed through
corroborating friends and family.
Question:
I have a young friend in the Army who has picked up the habit of dipping snuff. This is widespread in the Army, at least among warriors deployed in Afghanistan. He would like to break this habit, but is finding it very difficult. Would your smoking cessation CD be helpful to him? If not, do you have anything else you might recommend?
Please post this.
B.D.C.
Melissa attests to the gentle, incremental but reliable impact a method like guided imagery had on breaking her years-long addiction to smoking. She writes:
“I truly believe this tape made the difference for me. I have finally quit after years of addiction. I stopped and started, but this tape seemed to build my resolve in a gentle, respectful and non judgmental way week after week, until finally I was less attracted to smoking and more attracted to health. How wonderful to be free at last from smoking!”
We found this lovely note on our website from a very addicted ex-smoker. As an ex-smoker myself, who found it incredibly difficult to quit but finally did, I was especially gratified to read it. And it speaks well to the point of readiness – most of the time, you need to be ready psychologically and emotionally ready (or scared to death) in order to succeed at this.
We got a lovely touching note from a man who is struggling to quit smoking. He reports that the imagery experience gave him an unexpected spiritual boost that will help keep him motivated and strong
Be of stout heart, you smokers out there who despair of ever quitting! Read Terri’s story, a smoker since she was ten years old and thoroughly, hopelessly addicted to cigarettes..
Two studies show that a brief hypnosis program can be an effective intervention for smoking cessation with a certain percentage of people, and that even one session can be a help..
Researchers from Texas A&M University’s Health Science Center conducted a preliminary study of the efficacy of a 3-session hypnosis protocol for smoking cessation.
Thirty smokers enrolled in an HMO were referred by their primary physician for treatment. Twenty-one patients returned after an initial consultation and received hypnosis for smoking cessation.
At the end of treatment, 81% of these participants reported that they had stopped smoking, and 48% reported abstinence at 12 months posttreatment. Most (95%) reported that they were satisfied with the treatment they received. Recommendations for future research to empirically evaluate this hypnosis treatment are discussed.
Citation: Elkins GR, Rajab MH. Clinical hypnosis for smoking cessation: preliminary results of a three-session intervention. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2004 Jan; 52 (1):pp. 73-81. gelkins@swmail.sw.org
Catherine Sykes and David Marks of Middlesex University in London, in an attempt to see what might reduce smoking among economically disadvantaged, heavy smokers, studied 260 smokers in this randomized, controlled clinical study. 131 subjects were randomly assigned to a cognitive behavioral program (called QFL, or Quit for Life), where they were taught in one hour how to be vigilant around their internal rationalizing to smoke, and to how use guided imagery, relaxation and meditation. After 7-10 days of smoking reduction, they quit and move into a 3-month relapse prevention program over 3 months time. Nicotine replacement therapy is optional (but not free), and was used by an insignificant minority of participants. Subjects are advised that quitting is not a matter of will power but of self-efficacy. 129 subjects were placed in the control condition, a program called SSME (Stopping Smoking Made Easier), which consists of a leaflet or audiotape telling people how to quit, offering facts and figures, and advice around picking a date to stop cold turkey, using will power, getting support from family and friends, arranging for a self-administered reward system after a successful first day, week and month; and to call the "Quitline" if further help is needed. Here too nicotine replacement therapy was optional, and again used only by a small minority of subjects. At the 6-month follow-up, 21 (17.2%) of the 122 participants receiving CBT and relaxation therapy were abstinent and 14 (11.5%) had reduced cigarette consumption by at least 25% of their pre-treatment level. On the other hand, only six (5.6%) of 107 participants in the control group were abstinent and none had reduced consumption. This was in spite of the fact that amount of contact with the program was the same, and use of nicotine replacement therapy was the same. The study concludes that cognitive behavioral and relaxation therapy is more effective than health education advice in helping smokers quit. Smokers need more than information; they need the skills and techniques to enable them to control the psychological processes that underly smoking.
Citation: Sykes, Catherine and Marks, David. Effectiveness of a cognitive behaviour therapy self-help programme for smokers in London, UK. Health Promotion International 2001 Sep;16(3):255-60.
