The more I research the topic of smoking cessation, the more I find the topic of hypnosis coming up. Any search of a smoking cessation website will invariably include some advertisement for hypnosis as a stop smoking aid. When you visit stop smoking forums on-line, you also get a chance to read how real people are trying to use hypnosis as a stop smoking aid.
First of all, let's review the primary stop smoking aids considered as frontline tools used to help smokers quit. They are nicotine replacement therapy, Zyban and Chantix. These aids have been studied and tested by many scientific minds over the last several decades. So we have lots of outcome data to support their use. Unfortunately, stop smoking aids are just not that successful, although they will usually double your chances of success over quitting cold turkey. In comparison, if you have a headache, you have your choice of several pills to make your headache go away. For the most part, there's probably at least a 90% chance that the headache will go away after you take the said pill. With smoking though, it's more like an 8-10% chance; maybe 20% if you mix in a support group.
Now, let's look at the second-line tools used for smoking cessation. These include hypnosis, acupuncture (include laser here), and of course, the "natural" herbal remedies (which could include just about anything). There are no scientific studies detailing their success. We just don't have any outcome data from which to judge their effectiveness. However, the smoking cessation community agrees the probability of success with these second-line aids is probably somewhere around that of quitting cold turkey or anywhere between 3-7%.
So why does hypnosis get so much advertisement? Well, hypnosis is a burgeoning profession. I have a neighbor who just finished going to "hypnosis school" and wanted us to go over to house so she could practice on us. She told us that hypnosis is a growing healthcare profession and she wanted to be on the ground floor.
Secondly, hypnosis appeals to a certain type of person who is more liberally minded and open to the mystic possibilities of the mind and spirit. Artists and crafty people typically fall into this category; you know, people who think with "that" side of their brain. As it turns out, most would agree that actors and most celebrities can be described in this way and, as luck would have it, many of them smoke. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Drew Barrymore are all actors who recently came public with their smoking addictions and talked at length how hypnosis was helping them. Ben Affleck even went to Oprah to discuss how hypnosis helped him "kick the habit".
With this kind of public advertisement, and the relative poor success of traditional stop smoking aids, who wouldn't want to at least give hypnosis a try. And that is what the scientific community says. They frequently describe these second-line approaches as having an appeal to a certain type of person who just may be open minded enough to the idea and thus, have a greater potential for finding success with them. They also suggest hypnosis and acupuncture to those who have relapsed after numerous quit attempts. But, don't expect your addiction to melt away with the soothing voice of the hypnotist. Many smokers on message boards around the internet still say how difficult the withdrawal cravings are even after hypnosis and it still only has a small, albeit estimated, success rate.
Ultimately, when looking for stop smoking help, you have to match up your personality, your tendencies, and your addiction with the stop smoking aid that best suits you. If you don't believe in the power of hypnosis but like the idea of taking a pill to help you, then Zyban or Chantix might be for you. But if you believe we humans have a vast unlocked potential in our minds and that by unlocking that power, we can achieve great things, then hypnosis might be right up your alley.
