Our Treatment to Stop Smoking

The major consideration is that nicotine produces a very powerful addiction. Until the patch and gum, etc., were available, "cold turkey" quitting was painful and rarely worked. The strength of patch or nicotine gum is very individual and depends on the amount of nicotine in each of your cigarettes as well as the number smoked every day. Even the selection of what form of nicotine substitution is also important and the smoker also needs professional advice in the choice of gum, patch, or the new inhaler which requires a doctor's prescription.

The most recent studies show that nicotine addiction varies according to the patient's own brain chemistry. The use of one antidepressant, Zyban (known to psychiatrists as Wellbutrin), has been well publicized. However other antidepressants better suited for some is a medical choice.

Many smokers use cigarettes as their own stress reducing drug, so for some,individually chosen safe tranquilizers reduce the need to rely on the hazardous cigarette.

Medical Hypnotherapy for some is an ideal way to strengthen motivation to quit. Choice of which type of hypnosis for the individual lies in the hands of the experts.

Additional stress treatments use modern Biofeedback. This is a technique proven to reduce the body's sick reaction to stress, e.g. tension headaches, ulcers, hypertension, etc.. Scientifically measuring the immediate body changes under stress and feeding back that information on a television screen, for example, readily teaches the patient to control these artifical body tensions without the use of cigarette smoking. The litigator who must stand on rainy courthouse steps and smoke several cigarettes before he faces the stress of trial now is able to utilize stress control techniques while sitting at the defendant's table.

Further medical technique is Cognitive Therapy enrolling the rational side of the brain to seek alternatives to smoking. The young man who sits in the bar with a drink in one hand and cigarette in the other in order to meet girls is made aware that the smoke-free Road Runners' Club is a happy, healthy alternative to meet women.