A new study finds that putting a lot of attention and planning into quitting smoking don’t guarantee success.
According to British researchers, those smokers who quit on impulse were much more prone to start again than the smokers who planned quitting earlier.
A new study finds that putting a lot of attention and planning into quitting smoking don’t guarantee success.
According to British researchers, those smokers who quit on impulse were much more prone to start again than the smokers who planned quitting earlier.
These findings differ from conventional views on quitting.
A main researcher, Robert West, a professor of health psychology at University College London says: “A very large proportion, probably about half, of attempts to stop smoking are made without any pre-planning at all. People just suddenly decide to quit and do it.”
He added that about 50 percent of quitters decide to stop smoking suddenly and they are more succesful at quitting.
“Perhaps more surprisingly, we found that these spur-of-the-moment quit attempts more likely to be successful” - he states. “This goes very much against received wisdom which says that people usually plan their quit attempts and that planning is important for success.”
The report is to be published in the Jan. 26 online edition of the British Medical Journal.
West and colleague Taj Sohal gathered data on 918 smokers who told having made at least one attempt to quit, and confronted it with the experiences of 996 successful ex-smokers.
They found that 48.6 percent of smokers declared that their last attempt to quit happened at once after they decided to quit. What is more, this spontaneous attempts tend to last at least six months. The researchers stated that the chance for successful quitting were 2.6 times higher in unplanned attempts than in planned attempts.
West declared: “This does not mean, of course, that people should not plan quit attempts. We think it means that there is something different about the state of mind of someone who says ‘That’s it - I’ve had enough, and I’m stopping smoking right now’ and someone who says ‘I’ve decided to stop smoking and it will be after I finish the packet tomorrow/next week/or whatever’”.
West mentioned the impulses which can reflcet on smokres. It turns out that spontaneous decision to stop smoking may reflect a total intellectual switch - the kind of shift that can turn a smoker into a nonsmoker. “The triggers that cause this kind of shift can be very small - having a cold, something someone says, or even a storm outside when one’s run out of
cigarettes.” - West states.
West said that this kind of switch can be seen as something that scientists call “catastrophe theory”.
Due to West “hidden tensions build up in the system and then a trigger, which might be quite small, unpredictably generates a catastrophic shift -rather like what happens with earthquakes”.
The researchers states that if their theory is truth, the public health programs encouraging to quit smoking might want to adopt so called “The Three Ts” model.
West added: “Create motivational tension in smokers — making them feel dissatisfied with being smokers, rather than just believing that smoking is bad for them; populate the world of the smoker with triggers to action — get those people who are on the cusp to take action. And be ready with immediate treatment for smokers who have just stopped, as well as those that planned their quit attempt in advance.”
Due to one of the experts, smokers may considerably differ and present various levels of addiction.
Saul Shiffman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh said: “I think the authors’ insight is correct. Often people are thinking about quitting and something, apparently sudden, can push them over the edge into quitting.”
Shiffman is sure that an instatnt motivation, which may play a positive role in success, result from singular events. “At the same time, it may be that the people who quit spontaneously are the ones who are less dependent to begin with and have an easier time quitting, and that’s why they are more successful,” - he declares.
Those who tried quit smoking several times are usually the ones who had difficulties. Due to Shiffman “Those may be the ones, with very good reason, who are more likely to plan.”
Shiffman was careful to claim that while sudden decision of quitting might be right for some, planning has its place, too.
“Certain kinds of planning are not only good, but necessary. We know the use of treatment like nicotine replacement is helpful; we know that getting behavioral help is useful. So clearly, one should not take this as ‘don’t bother planning anything, don’t bother arranging help, just quit on a whim.’ One really should get that help,” he stated.
The study took place at the same time as an article in the Jan. 28 British Medical Journal. The article states that British American Tobacco (BAT) promoted the use of air filtration devices to restaurants and bars - despite the fact they realised they are only 34 percent effective in lowering levels of secondhand smoke.
Nigel Warren, former BAT scientist declared the company’s fundamental interest in promoting the devices was “to negate the need for smoking bans around the world.”
