Aversion therapy is one of the more recent methods used for smoking cessation. It is not yet as popular as other methods like nicotine replacement therapy and quitting cold turkey. This is because this is one of the more recent techniques and is still being refined to make it more effective as a method of smoking cessation. It helps especially those who are more psychologically addicted than chemically addicted to nicotine and smoking.
What is aversion therapy for smokers?
Aversion therapy is a psychological therapy used to help smokers quit the habit. It works by making the smoker averse to the idea of smoking. It is very effective especially for those who are addicted psychologically to the act of smoking.
In this technique, the pleasurable experience of smoking is paired with an unpleasant and undesirable stimulus. This pairing is done continuously for a pre-decided amount of time. Eventually, this pairing results in the brain relating smoking to an unpleasant experience. This, in a way, puts off the smoker to the very idea of smoking.
One of the unpleasant stimuli that is paired with the act of smoking in this technique are mild electric shocks. Another technique that is used is to make the smokers smoke almost double the amount they are used to. This induces symptoms of mild nicotine toxicity. They start feeling sick. Slowly, feeling sick is directly associated with the act of smoking which makes the smokers stay away from smoking altogether.
This technique has not become very popular as yet because research is still going on on the effectiveness of this method. There is not enough evidence yet of the effectiveness and the feasibility of this technique. It has shown very good results but is still in the last stages of experimentation.
You may opt for aversion therapy or any other cessation techniques like nicotine replacement, hypnosis, acupuncture etc., to get rid of your smoking habit. The most important thing is that you opt for a method that helps you to quit smoking and stay quit for good.
