What Does Psychological Treatment For Tobacco Addiction Consist Of?
Tobacco kills around 8 million people every 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 cigarettes a few years earlier.
Smoking kills, but you already know that. Years of cigarette packs with unpleasant images of black or bloody lungs have not been enough to make you take action.
Quitting smoking 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 person’s genetics, their consumption habits, fear of change, relapse prevention strategy…
What is the psychological treatment for tobacco addiction?
In this article I am going to explain to you What does a psychological treatment for tobacco addiction consist of? and what are the fundamental pillars.
Finding 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 have worked in addictions, hundreds of people have told me how they have been considering the idea of quitting smoking for several decades, but that it never seemed like the right time, They always found some excuse to postpone the topic even further
One of the first topics that will be worked on in psychological therapy to quit tobacco 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 20s).
Unfortunately, in cases of addiction it is rare for people to make the decision to quit on their own; rather, they are often pushed by their family members or partners. In cases of smoking, because the smoker’s loved ones begin to worry about their state of health and the possible consequences.
At the beginning of the tobacco cessation therapy process, the psychologist will make sure that the person has found their own reasons to quit smoking.
Moving due to family pressure can help at first to take the first steps, but in most cases it is not enough: the person must connect with their personal reasons for wanting to quit tobacco, connect with their desire for change. Otherwise, smoking cessation treatment will be doomed to failure.
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 in the process and help remind you of your reasons for wanting to quit smoking.
Analyze tobacco consumption habits
A psychologist who is an expert in the treatment of tobacco addiction will approach your case strategically As with any other addiction problem, any smoker who wants to quit cigarettes will need to 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 most eagerly, and which ones most on “autopilot” or out of 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 of smoking, about a pack and a half a day, his wife died of lung cancer, he smokes at work and has relapsed twice going out for beers with friends) will not be the same. effective for another (Maria, 15 years of smoking, her partner does not smoke and does not like her to smoke, low self-esteem and a lot of guilt, I have never tried to quit smoking for fear of anxiety, she smokes 10 cigarettes a day on average).
Overcoming Nicotine Withdrawal Syndrome
Tobacco withdrawal syndrome is the main reason why most smokers continue to pay big tobacco companies to poison them.
The mechanism of tobacco is simple. Nicotine is highly addictive, so the brain quickly develops dependence, after a few doses. The more the person smokes, the greater the tolerance to nicotine the body develops. 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 nicotine levels in the blood have dropped, so it begins to “miss” nicotine. That’s when most smokers start to feel unwell. The most common symptoms of tobacco withdrawal syndrome are:
Due to genetic differences, Each person will experience withdrawal differently There are people who have managed to quit smoking overnight, with virtually 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’s 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 psychologist specialized in addictions will help the smoker to face the discomfort of withdrawal syndrome, and lose the fear of it.
How to overcome emotional dependence on tobacco
In addition to the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, The smoker who wants to overcome his addiction will also have to overcome his emotional dependence on tobacco In many cases, tobacco has been present in the person’s life for many years. It has been part of many situations and rituals, it has been deeply integrated into the person’s life.
A smoker may have built many rituals around tobacco, such as the after-meal cigarette, the coffee, the break in the office with colleagues, the one when leaving class, the one that accompanies Friday beers, the going out to the balcony to take a breath of fresh air, a cigarette while watching a movie or a series… And all of this without taking into account 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 prevention of relapses
Alternative activities, avoiding certain situations with a high risk of relapse, building a new lifestyle… are fundamental steps that most smokers skip when trying to quit tobacco on their own without psychological treatment.
Anyone can quit smoking for a few days or weeks without too much effort, but staying relapse-free is the hard part. Many people suffer relapses, and they experience it with a lot of frustration and a feeling of failure.
Related article: “The Marlatt and Gordon Relapse Prevention Model”
Are you looking for professional help?
I’m Luis Miguel Real, and for years I have been dedicated to helping people with addiction problems. I have helped hundreds of people stop being slaves to tobacco and quit smoking without relapses.
If you have made the firm decision to quit smoking, I can help you. Contact me and we will get to work on it as soon as possible.
