Replacing Your Cigarette Addiction

April 16th, 2013

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths globally. Quitting smoking is incredibly difficult, with more than 90% of attempts resulting in relapse—a rate surpassed only by heroin. The good news is that, despite the frequency of relapse and the adverse public health effects, most people do eventually quit smoking cigarettes on their own. How do they do it?

Nicotine, the addictive substance in cigarettes, activates the dopamine system and reward-related regions in the brain. Nicotine withdrawal naturally results in decreased activity of these regions, which is closely associated with craving, relapse, and continued nicotine consumption. Research involving a new method of brain stimulation called ‘Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation’ (TMS) indicates that by stimulating the regions affected by nicotine addiction, smoking cravings were temporarily reduced in nicotine-dependent individuals.

More remarkably, the TMS-induced craving reductions were greater in those with higher levels of nicotine use. This relation is indicative of “addictive personalities,” or individuals who need constant stimulation, often as a coping mechanism for emotional trauma. Once he or she realizes that their behavior is detrimental to their life—a crucial and difficult crossroads to come to—there is often an impulse to cut the drug out of their life completely, “cold turkey.”

This is often unrealistic for most true addicts, and why relapse rates are so high amongst cigarette smokers. In fact, the pressure of abstinence and unwarranted stigma against relapse may actually intensify cravings. This research shows that replacing your smoking habit with a positive stimulation—exercise, art, meditation, hobbies, volunteering, etc.—may help prevent future relapses.

TMS itself may become a popular method of quitting smoking in the future. The procedure is noninvasive, does not require sedation or anesthesia, and keeps patients awake while administering treatment through coils placed near the forehead. But until the day comes when we can erase our addictions using magnetic fields, remember that quitting is just the beginning of your new life—the life where you are a gymnast, a musician, or a humanitarian. Not an addict.

-Ray Lumpp, Managing Editor
AllTreatment.com