You already know that nicotine is a powerfully addicting substance that creates the delinquent (unhealthy) behaviour of continuing use of tobacco. When you’re ready to quit, there are a variety of stop smoking aids to help you, including medications that reduce physical cravings for nicotine and nicotine replacement patches that, over several weeks, gradually weaning users off this drug. These stop smoking aids are very effective, but they only address the physiology of smoking behaviour. Unless your smoking cessation program includes a component that addresses breaking the psychological habit, your chances of relapse is high, especially if you quit smoking “cold turkey.”

Is it deviant behaviour to continue using a drug that you know is slowly killing you? Well, yes. This applies to all addictive drugs. Stop smoking medical aids address physical cravings; behaviour modification addresses the psychological habit of smoking. For example, you may have the habit of smoking after a meal not because you’re craving nicotine, but because you’ve developed psychological habits that you associate with smoking. Driving, talking on the phone, having a beer and a cigarette, playing cards, watching TV, smoking while you’re working – all these are habits that can be eliminated through a combination of behaviour modification and stop smoking aids that address the physiology of behaviour.

Here’s how it works: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) was devised in the 1950’s by Carl Rogers and Aaron Beck; CBT is the most common treatment approach to most mental distress, including addiction. Very simply, if you change the way you think (cognitions), you can change the way you behave. CBT and stop smoking aids have great potential in helping you become a non-tobacco user. Returning to the example of smoking after meals, if you use CBT to eliminate thoughts such as “Great meal; time for a smoke,” you can eliminate the behaviour of smoking after meals. CBT is that easy! All you have to do is switch your thought to “I really don’t want nicotine, thanks to my stop smoking aids, I’m just feeling my habit.” CBT is sometimes combined with the use of hypnosis to stop smoking. In a deep state of hypnotic relaxation, your therapist can effectively help you form new thoughts about smoking that will lead to non-smoking.

When physicians prescribe stop smoking aids like medications that reduce craving, they strongly advise patients to cope not only with the physiology of smoking behaviour, but also see an addiction therapist who uses behaviour modification techniques like CBT. Using these techniques, you can become an ex-smoker forever!