What is psychological treatment for tobacco addiction?

Tobacco kills about 8 million people each year. What most of those people had in common is that they probably didn't expect to be part of that black statistic while smoking cigars a few years earlier.

Smoking kills, but you already know that. Years of packs of tobacco with ugly images of black or bloody lungs weren't enough to get you into action.

Quitting is not easy, no matter how much someone who has achieved it tells you. Tobacco addiction is a complex problem, like any other addiction, and well-intentioned advice does not help everyone, because each case is different, each smoker is different. We have to take into account the genetics of the person, their consumption habits, fear of change, the relapse prevention strategy ...

• Related article: "What is the best method to quit smoking? Suddenly or gradually? "

What is the psychological treatment for tobacco addiction like?

In this article I will explain what is a psychological treatment for tobacco addiction and what are the fundamental pillars.

Finding the motivation to quit smoking

Most smokers spend their lives thinking about quitting. But they don't dare (they are afraid of failing) or they don't consider it a priority.

Since I've been working on addictions, hundreds of people have told me how they've been thinking about quitting smoking for several decades, but that it never seemed like the right time. they always found some excuse to postpone the topic even more.

One of the first issues that will be addressed in psychological therapy to quit smoking will be the person's reasons for wanting the change. Most smokers have been smoking for so many years that they no longer remember how they felt before they started smoking (Most people start smoking in their teens or early 20s.)

Unfortunately, in addiction cases it is rare for people to make the decision to quit on their own, but they are often pushed by their family or partner. In cases of smoking, because the smoker's loved ones begin to worry about their health and the possible consequences.

Early in the smoking cessation therapy process, the psychologist will make sure that the person has found reasons of their own to quit smoking.

Moving around due to family pressure can help you take the first steps at first, but in most cases it is not enough: the person has to connect with her personal reasons for wanting to quit tobacco, connect with her desire for change. Otherwise, smoking cessation treatment will be doomed.

The most important thing about motivation is that it is impossible to keep it intact all the time. The advantage of following up with a psychology professional is that they will accompany you through the process and help you remind yourself of your reasons for wanting to quit smoking.

• You may be interested in: "8 reasons why you need therapy to quit smoking"

Analyze tobacco use habits

An expert psychologist in the treatment of tobacco addiction will focus your case strategically. As with any other addiction problem, any smoker who wants to quit cigarettes should know their consumption habits.

How many years have you been smoking? How many cigarettes do you normally smoke a day? When do you smoke them, at what times of the day? Where do you smoke, in what places and situations? Do you always smoke alone or spend time with other smokers? Which cigarettes do you smoke with the most anxiety, and which ones do you smoke more on “automatic pilot” or by inertia? What do you feel before, during and after each cigarette? Have you had attempts to quit smoking in the past? Why didn't they work? What are the main causes of relapse in your case? How long have your longest periods of abstinence been?

And these are just a few. In the first sessions, an extensive evaluation of the addiction problem will be made, and conclusions will be drawn, short-term objectives will be established, and the strategies that best suit the case will be chosen.

Because what helped one person (Carlos, 32 years old smoking, about a pack and a half a day, his wife died of lung cancer, smokes in the work and has relapsed twice going to beers with friends) it will not be as effective for another (Maria, 15 years smoking, her partner does not smoke and does not he likes to smoke, low self-esteem and a lot of guilt, I have never tried to stop smoking for fear of anxiety, he smokes 10 cigarettes a day of half).

• Related article: "5 steps to combat anxiety when unhooking from tobacco"

Overcoming nicotine withdrawal syndrome

Tobacco withdrawal is the main reason most smokers continue to pay Big Tobacco to poison them.

The mechanism of tobacco is simple. Nicotine is highly addictive, so the brain develops dependence quickly, after a few doses. The more he smokes. person, greater tolerance to nicotine develops the body. This will cause the person to need increasing doses of nicotine to feel good.

Within 30 minutes of smoking a cigarette, the body has already metabolized (eliminated) much of the nicotine. The brain detects that the levels of nicotine in the blood have dropped, so it begins to "miss" nicotine. This is when most smokers start to feel sick. The most common symptoms of tobacco withdrawal syndrome are:

• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Sadness or apathy
• Tiredness
• Tremors or even panic
• Humor changes brusque
• Difficulty thinking clearly
• Trouble sleeping

Due to genetic differences, each person will experience withdrawal in a different way. There are people who have managed to quit smoking overnight, with practically no anxiety. Unfortunately, it is a minority.

Most people experience some type of withdrawal syndrome, mostly unpleasant sensations or even anxiety.

In many cases, the withdrawal syndrome it can be so unpleasant that the person ends up lighting a cigarette just to make the discomfort go away quickly. That is why people relapse. It is not a question of willpower.

That is why it is so important to have the support and accompaniment of a psychologist during addiction treatment. A good addiction psychologist will help the smoker to cope with the discomfort of the withdrawal syndrome, and to lose the fear of it.

• You may be interested in: "Drug withdrawal syndrome: its types and symptoms"

How to overcome emotional dependence on tobacco

In addition to the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal syndrome, the smoker who wants to overcome his addiction will also have to overcome his emotional dependence on tobacco. In many cases, tobacco has been in a person's life for many years. He has been part of many situations and rituals, he has been deeply integrated into the life of the person.

A smoker may have built many rituals around tobacco, such as the after-meal cigarette, the coffee, the office break with the classmates, the one to go out of class, the one that accompanies the beers on Friday, the one to go out to the balcony to drink in the air, the cigarette while watching a movie or a Serie... And all this without counting the moods to which tobacco has been conditioned: relaxation, celebration, in stressful moments, etc.

The person must learn to face all these situations without tobacco. These will also be some of therapeutic targets for the maintenance phase and relapse prevention.

Alternative activities, avoiding certain situations with high risk of relapse, building a new lifestyle... are key steps most smokers skip when trying to quit on their own without treatment psychological.

Anyone can quit for a few days or weeks without too much effort, but staying relapse-free is the hard part. Many people relapse, and live it with a lot of frustration and a feeling of failure.

• Related article: "The Marlatt and Gordon Relapse Prevention Model"

Looking for professional help?

I am Luis Miguel Real, and for years I have dedicated myself to helping people with addiction problems. I have helped hundreds of people to stop being slaves to tobacco and to quit smoking without relapses.

If you have made a firm decision to quit smoking, I can help you. Get in touch with me and we'll get to work on it as soon as possible.