Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
Despite years of treatment, research, and activism, we still don’t have a really effective program to help people quit smoking. The traditional behavioral treatments haven’t improved much over time.
But what if mindfulness meditation could do what traditional programs don’t?
Judson Brewer, PhD and his colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine wanted to know how a mindfulness training program would compare to Freedom From Smoking – an established, validated, and widely used program for smoking cessation developed by the American Lung Association.
They randomly assigned 88 treatment-seeking, nicotine-dependent adults to one of two groups. One group received a 4-week mindfulness training program that emphasized momentary awareness along with acceptance of cravings and negative emotions.
The other group served as the control and took a 4-week Freedom From Smoking program that focused on self-monitoring, identifying the triggers that induce cravings, and creating a plan to quit.
Throughout the treatments, researchers collected both self-reports and carbon monoxide exhalations from participants to find out whether or not they continued to smoke. They also followed up with participants at 4, 6, 12, and 17 weeks after the beginning of treatment.
After 17 weeks, 32% of the people in the mindfulness group had not smoked during the week leading up to their follow-up appointment. While that might sound low, only 6% of the people who took the Freedom From Smoking program had not smoked a cigarette the week before their check-in.
This research shows the exciting potential of mindfulness meditation to help clients with addictions.
I especially like this research because it uses an active control – one that compares mindfulness to an established treatment. If we really want to provide the best care for our clients, this is the kind of research we need to see.
If you’d like to read the full study, it’s available in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Have you used mindfulness meditation to help patients with smoking or substance abuse difficulties? Please share your experience in the comments below.
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I have been using mindfulness as a foundational skill in DBT, as well as individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD). However, I struggle with “selling” it to individuals with SUD. I often here that they can’t do it because their minds are too busy or they just don’t view it as something that would potentially help them. I have a response to both of these concerns, but I would like to see anyone has any suggestions.
Tara, I find similar responses with individuals with SUD. Often, their response is, that’s not the issue. They just need to have stronger willpower, they have an addictive personality, it’s just not a good time to quit. I’m interesting in hearing your response to their minds are too busy or they just don’t view it as something that would potentially help them. Thank you.
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The positive results for mindfulness, are very similar to the positive results for hypnotherapy. Which should be no surprise since the “brain state” as measured by EEG is virtually the same. The major difference is, in hypnosis suggestions are given, and the effectiveness of those suggestions lies with the skill of the hypnotherapist. The mindfulness program’s strength as described above lies with that it “emphasized momentary awareness along with acceptance of cravings and negative emotions.” The “struggle” with self is relinquished. Thank you, Ruth, for continually sharing highly useful information and research.
I concur and thank you for this current research. I favor a multi-faceted approach to tobacco cessation, and highly recommend meditation and other mindfulness practices as one component. Great to see these results for a practice that can free of us of the butts and much more!
Mindfulness and relaxation activities are two of the coping strategies I teach 99.9% of my clients regardless of their presenting problem(s). Both have psychological and physiological as well as emotional impact. Liked the study.
I learned how to do clinical hypnosis in 1980 with Tony Gaito. I also went to a seminar with Bill OHanlon. I started teaching clients how to Meditate regardless of the particular problem that they had. I also taught a simple explanation of how the mind works and how we can get trapped. I believe I had a high rate of success with clients. Unfortunately im 83 years old and I have other ailments and you have to face reality. I do think that everyone should learn how to meditate and should practice it daily.
I am a former smoker. I smoked a pack and a half/day. I was introduced to hypnosis earlier in undergraduate school for claustrophobia. Later on in the early 80s , I was sort of ‘tricked into’ a hypnosis session for quitting smoking with a nurse, who specialized in it. I became a permanent non smoker within 3 days. I was stunned and delighted with the outcome. After that experience, I trained with this woman and after graduate school in counseling psychology, got my certification in clinical hypnosis. Since that time, I have helped over 3,000 former smokers to also become permanent non smokers.
As a hypnotist working in NYC specializing in smoking cessation for almost 15 years I’ve seen thousands of people helped become non smokers using the mindfulness techniques that are part of every one of my hypnotic interventions.
Mindfulness is bringing bringing habits out of the habitual realm. When you focus on what you are doing, you are in the perfect position to make choices. Habits are mindless behaviors, so it stands to reason that you can bring about change by being mindful.
Adding hypnotic techniques into the solution is like experiencing mindfulness on steroids. It’s quick, enjoyable and an effective way to change habits.
Hi, I live in Pittsburgh , PA and have been smoking for 23 years, since the age of 21. I have tried hypnosis with a private therapist who specializes in helping smokers quit smoking and after many sessions it did not help. Do you think mindfulness meditation may work? Can you suggests anyone who specializes in this in the Pittsburgh/ Irwin, Pa area?
Thank you
Misha
Misha,
Quitting smoking requires that you are ready for it. You must accept the change without any doubt. If there’s any doubt, chances that you will (subconsciously) do the work required to let go of the cigarettes go down.
With hypnotherapy/mindfulness, or any other smoking cessation aids, it’s still the person himself/herself who needs to make the change and become a non-smoker.
So when a person is not mentally ready and open to actually making the change, no amount of mindfulness or hypnotherapy is going to help.
Best regards,
Roy Dictus (hypnotherapist specialized in smoking cessation)
This is such an important point. Conditioning and learned behavior will work only if you are ready to accept the change and believe it. I have found that many programs aren’t effective and there is a great rate of drop out among the participants in therapy or not. When the behaviors are not apparently reduced, it can be discouraging and take you back to the beginning and start over. Where would I get some more authoritative sources on hypnotherapy and about addiction. Much appreciated.
This doesn’t surprise me at all.
As Dr. Michael Yapko explains in his book Mindfulness and Hypnosis, both techniques are based on suggestion. In fact, the only tiny difference between the two is that hypnosis is easier, more versatile, and more effective. Well, the other difference is that mindfulness has better PR and more funding for research.
We’ve been using hypnosis–often with an explicitly mindful component–to help people stop smoking for decades.
Absolutely.
And it’s true, the word “hypnosis” carries such a stigma with it that it has become near impossible to advertise hypnotherapy services for quitting smoking anywhere (including Facebook and Google). Maybe we should start marketing with the term “mindfulness” instead…
As a psychiatrist who does mainly psychotherapy with patients for anxiety and depression as well as addictive behaviors, I have taught mindfulness meditation to my patient for years. This is another piece of scientific research to show the power of meditation to transform automatic behaviors.
I have found that teaching someone to be able to step back from an impulse or craving and to accept them as just states of the mind as opposed to mindlessly reacting to them helps on numerous levels. The power that one gets from overcoming one automatic behavior generalizes to a developing sense of well being. I think meditation is a tool that should be taught in medical schools and psychiatric residencies and a part of every therapists tool chest.
Larry Drell, MD
drdrell.com
counselingandtherapydc.com/info for info on anxiety,depression, addiction and how meditation helps behavior changes and life changes. Your emails are a great source of practical information Thank you for the current research and easy references.
I have been using Mindfulness and behaviour modification in my In-Office Smoking Program for years with a 90% success rate. Through education, mindfulness, hypnosis, EFT, behaviour modification techniques as well as tailoring to the individual’s particular needs, I have helped many quit and permanently including two of my own sons. I offer 24/7 support through hypnotic and subliminal recordings, and find the mindfulness and behaviour modification address the psychological addiction as well as the physical thus making quitting permanent and amazingly easy.