How is the psychological support to quit smoking?

Quitting smoking can be a complicated task if you do not have the necessary resources for it. Therefore, psychology plays a fundamental role.

More and more people are turning to psychotherapy to quit smoking in a definitive way. Through this article we will try to make a compendium of some of the strategies and techniques most used by psychology professionals to carry out this task.

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Psychological support to quit smoking: what it is and how it works

Anyone who is a regular smoker, especially if he has been for many years, will know how strong the relationship between dependence that is acquired with tobacco, or rather with the addictive substances it contains, such as nicotine. This does not mean that it is impossible to root out said consumption habit, but it does mean that it can be complicated.

That is where the science of human behavior, that is, psychology, comes in. And it is that Thanks to the guidance of a good psychotherapist, an expert in addictions, this arduous path can be made more bearable.

. For this reason, many people interested in quitting this habit wonder what psychological support is like to quit smoking.

First of all, it must be said that the word addiction may be shocking to some, who will associate this concept with more aggressive substances. However, In the strict sense of the word, tobacco is a drug whose effect stimulates the central nervous system of the subject who consumes it.. Continued use will generate a dependency relationship, that is, an addiction.

For this reason, it is not uncommon for more and more consumers to realize this fact and therefore investigate ways to end this relationship with nicotine. Many of these individuals try to achieve it on their own. Some get it. Others, on the contrary, need extra support. For this reason, they need to know what psychological support is like to quit smoking.

Psychology as an aid to quit smoking

Of course, there is no single solution from psychology to accomplish this task. As it happens when we talk about any other psychological alteration, The way to address it from a therapeutic level may vary depending on many factors, starting with the characteristics of the person affected..

Similarly, each therapist may come from a different school and therefore will have been trained to use certain techniques, while another professional will prefer different ones. Likewise, within the range of strategies that each one uses, it must be adapted to the idiosyncrasies of the patient and the particularities of their case.

Therefore, the question of what the psychological support for smoking cessation is like is sometimes too broad to be able to be answered in an exhaustive way. On the contrary, various ways of approaching the issue can be proposed, combining various of them or even restructure the action plan if it is observed that the first choice is not working out effective.

Bearing these preliminary considerations in mind, we will go on to review a collection of techniques aimed at this issue, without losing the perspective that they are not the only ones, that several of them they can be complementary and that ultimately it is the professional psychologist who will decide, together with the patient, the way to address the issue that has led him to consultation.

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Psychological techniques used in tobacco cessation therapy

Next, we will present some of the strategies and techniques used by some therapists in psychological support to quit smoking.

1. Anticipation and control of stimuli

A task as delicate as quitting the tobacco habit requires a certain dedication. Many therapists will agree that stimulation control and anticipation are going to be the keys to achieving success in this endeavor. Therefore, the patient must be aware of this fact and do everything possible to avoid easy and direct access to tobacco.

In other words, the fact of staying away from the source of the addiction, as far as possible, will reduce (even partially) the conditioned response that you have to tobacco and therefore the anxiety caused by not smoking. Stimulus control can be done with small acts, such as not having tobacco in a visible place, or not having it directly, if you want to quit abruptly.

It's not just about keeping cigarettes away from us, but also keeping ourselves away from situations that encourage smoking. For this reason, when talking about what psychological support is like to quit smoking, the therapist may stress that the patient avoid certain scenarios that were practically linked to the act of smoking.

What could those situations be? It depends on each person, of course. But they can be as common as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon break, with co-workers who also smoke, so that tobacco is the social nexus. In this case, perhaps it would be convenient not to share that rest time if you are not sure that you are going to be strong enough to refuse the usual cigarette.

2. Change of routines and substitution of activities

At the same time that certain habits are eliminated, in this case smoking, new actions can be started that facilitate this change in routines. Obviously, if it is about healthy activities, the benefit will be maximum. This is the case of sport, which is positive in itself but is also a powerful ally to reduce anxiety symptoms derived from nicotine withdrawal..

Therefore, quitting smoking is presented as the ideal time to start practicing a sport, going to the gym or intensifying these actions if they have already been carried out in the past. In addition, the routines and the environment that usually go hand in hand with sports, of a healthy nature, also act psychologically as a dam against the temptation to smoke, which on the contrary has connotations unhealthy

When we talk about routine changes in the context of psychological support for smoking cessation, we also include small actions. It goes without saying that the very routine of picking up a cigarette and lighting it is the one that must be tried to eliminate. Sometimes trying to replace it with others, such as taking a piece of candy or a lollipop, can be a small but valuable help.

3. thought control

Continuing with the strategies that explain what psychological support is like to quit smoking, We cannot forget about cognitive work, or what is the same, the management of thoughts. Although the addiction that the smoker suffers will not disappear simply by reasoning about how harmful tobacco is, such mental work can help to some extent.

It will be important for the person to be clear about all the negative things that cigarettes are contributing to your life and all the positive things you will achieve when you quit smoking once and for all all. Writing this list or reviewing it can be beneficial, especially when the urge to smoke appears.

4. nicotine reduction

We have already mentioned that some people choose to quit smoking overnight, but not all people are able to do so this way. For this reason, another of the techniques that can be useful and that responds to what psychological support is like to quit smoking is that of gradually reduce nicotine.

This does not necessarily imply reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day, in a phased manner, although it is also a very useful method. Other ways to achieve this reduction in nicotine may be to purchase packets of tobacco from other brands that include a lower dose of that chemical. In this way, even if the number of cigarettes is maintained, the total amount of nicotine that will reach the body will be lower.

Likewise, you can opt for chewing gum or nicotine patches, which are also widely used as substitutes for cigarettes, since they reduce the withdrawal syndrome generated by not smoking.

5. achievable goals

As we said, not all people have the willpower to quit smoking overnight. Thus, you have to be aware of the capabilities of each one and set affordable goals in line with them. The therapist will be able to help in this task and design a program tailored to the patient.

Bibliographic references:

• Castruita, D.A.A., Castillo, M.A.A. (2018). Cognitive behavioral therapy for smoking cessation: Systematic review. Community nursing.
• Lira-Mandujano J., González-Betanzos F., Carrascoza V.C.A., Ayala V.H.E., Cruz-Morales S.E. (2009). Evaluation of a brief motivational intervention program for smokers: results of a pilot study. Mental health.
• Stead, L.F., Lancaster, T. (2005). Group behavioral therapy programs for smoking cessation. The Cochrane Library Plus.
• Vera, M.P.G., Sanz, J. (2006). Analysis of the situation of smoking cessation treatments based on cognitive-behavioral therapy and nicotine patches. Psycho-oncology.