The Cost of Quitting

Ella Moss has written the following piece about the financial costs of quitting smoking.  It makes interesting reading and reveals that there is always someone trying to continue to make a living out of products which may possibly be harmful and certainly do you no good!

The Cost of Quitting

Smoking is killing the inhabitants of our planet at an alarming rate and is predicted to kill1 billion people this Century. The small sticks of tobacco that many inhale into their lungs have been found directly to  cause numerous fatal diseases, including cancer, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Smoking also affects those around you.  Known as second hand or passive smoking, it can cause the same diseases in those who inhale smoke without even smoking themselves. With this in mind, there is no ‘bad’ time to quit. When an individual decides to quit smoking tobacco, they’re fortunate enough to have many smoking cessation aids to help them kick the habit.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy

On the assumption that nicotine –  a substance in cigarettes – is addictive and that it is this that keeps smokers smoking, nicotine patches and gum work by supplying you with nicotine in a different form, thus satisfying the nicotine craving without having to ingest any of the hundreds of harmful chemicals that tobacco contains. They also help to prevent the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking, such as anxiety and depression, making the individual, in theory, less likely to relapse. Of course, patched and gum do not come free.  Nicotine patches cost, on average, between £8 and £15 per pack of 7 patches. Although this is cheaper than regular cigarettes, recent research has found that nicotine patches aren’t the most effective method of quitting in the long term.

Nicotine gum is cheaper, costing around £15 for 105 pieces. However, each piece of chewing gum only contains 4mg of nicotine compared to the 21mg in a nicotine patch. It’s therefore very likely you’ll need to chew multiple pieces of nicotine gum a day. In addition, nicotine gum comes with along list of potential side effects and hazards to health, such as a slowed heart rate, and you should consult your doctor before beginning to use it.

Electronic Cigarettes

E-Cigs are the latest in smoking cessation technology. They mimic real cigarettes both in form and function by looking like a real cigarette and smoking like a one too. The e-liquid, which is the substance inside that contains the nicotine, is turned to vapour and inhaled much like a real cigarette. These too are not cheap though.  The initial starter pack can cost £90 or more, and then it’s about £10 – £18 for each pack after. Although E-Cigs sound like a fool proof plan for ditching the habit, they’re still untested and a lot is unknown about the e-liquid used. In addition, many believe these devices encourage smoking in those who don’t and perpetuate the habit in those who already do.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy has been found to be effective in treating conditions where the individual’s thought processes need to change or a habit needs to be broken, such as in the case of smoking. A deeply relaxed ,trance-like state is induced – akin to the feeling just before you drop off to sleep.  In this state subjects are more susceptible to suggestion and their positive thoughts surrounding cigarettes can be replaced with negative ones. Hypnotherapy works long term because, rather than just immediately satiating the craving for or the means of access to nicotine, it fundamentally changes how the patient views cigarettes and also breaks the habit of smoking. By encouraging a smoker to see the damage that tobacco is doing to their body, reinforcing the idea that they need to protect themselves and instilling a sense of self-worth in the individual which does not need to be supported by cigarette smoking, hypnotherapy can help kick the habit once and for all.

Ella Moss, Journalist