Smoking is an addictive behavior. Many people who smoke find it nearly impossible to quit and in turn continue to smoke throughout their lifetime. One of the therapeutic techniques that has been used to treat smoking addiction is aversion therapy.
Smoking Addiction
Tobacco contains the highly addictive chemical nicotine. According to the Mayo Clinic, nicotine increases the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical that makes you feel good. For those who smoke or have previously tried to break the habit, they know that quitting can be nearly impossible. As reported by the Help Guide, smoking is interwoven into the very being of the smoker's life. It is the cigarette that has been there to calm and comfort during intense times of stress.
Risks of Smoking
The Mayo Clinic reports, "Tobacco smoke contains more than 60 known cancer-causing chemicals and more than 4,800 other harmful substances." Smoking is harmful to just about every part of the body and more than half of all smokers will die as a result of their addiction.
How It Works
Historically, aversion therapy has been used to treat habits, smoking, alcoholism, gambling, violence and pedophilia. Aversion therapy developed from Pavlovian conditioning. When a patient engages in successful aversion therapy, he will no longer desire the past pleasurable activity and may even feel repulsed by it. According to Paul Chance, author of "Learning and Behavior," aversion therapy is a type of conditioning. The therapist pairs the act that you enjoy, such as smoking, with either a noxious smell, a medication that will induce nausea or low-grade electric shocks. These pairings create an association in your mind between the activity you used to enjoy and the negative experience, turning the once pleasurable activity into a negative one, reports Chance.
Treating Smoking Addictions
Overall, quitting has many implications and the most effective technique to quit is unknown. However, aversion therapy has shown some possibility. With aversion therapy, the cigarette smoking is paired with a stimulus that elicits an unpleasant response, such as nausea. The outcome is to turn the act of smoking from pleasurable to unpleasant. According to psychologist Nigel Barber, writing for Psychology Today, when the puffing of a cigarette is paired with a mild electric shock or nausea, it becomes an effective method of smoking cessation. It is these pairings that produce the counter-conditioning classic to aversion therapy. Barber points out that due to the negative connotations associated with aversion therapy there has been little promotion of it as a treatment option.
Treatment Overall
Smoking is an epidemic problem due to the high addiction rate and the devastating health risks. Yet this problem goes vastly under-treated. Many treatments could work to help smokers quit and one of the under-recognized treatments is aversion therapy. Historically this therapeutic technique has received negative press, but in recent times it has shown to be effective in helping smokers break the habit, as reported by Barber. If you feel aversion therapy could benefit you, talk to your doctor before attempting it.
