OVERCOMING THE EFFECTS OF SMOKE ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH HYPNOSIS

Jean Nicot, in 1560, brought to Europe what would later be called, in his “honor”, Nicotine; since then tobacco consumption increased exponentially, reaching one billion users. A remarkable number if we consider that the World Health Organization reports that the number of tobacco victims amounts to more than five million each year; in other words, smoking is the main preventable cause of death in the world. Anyway, when dealing with addictions, the term “preventable” conflicts with the fact that some substances have an effect on our central nervous system: tobacco, in fact, acts on the endorphin circuit and on the release mechanisms of the neurotransmitter Dopamine, and thus activates processes that in our brains are connected to feelings of pleasure and reward. Furthermore, in an interesting study, it was observed that damage to cerebral structures like the insula (an area located in the temporal lobe that is considered one of the main elaboration nodes of emotional processing and of desire) is related to the ending of tobacco addiction [1]. In a recent study conducted by Carmody et al. (2008), it was demonstrated that hypnosis, combined with the action of nicotine patches, is more effective than standard therapies to quit smoking. More than 280 smokers were enrolled at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and were subdivided into two groups: the “hypnosis” one and the “cognitive behavioral” one. Hypnotic inductions consisted in suggestions and visualizations involving imaginary sceneries that were used as substitutes of the constant desire to smoke. Two hypnosis sessions of sixty minutes each were carried out and three subsequent phone calls were made to consolidate hypnotic treatment. Cognitive behavioral treatment, on the other hand, aimed to increase awareness about of the effects of smoking and comprised several behavioral techniques to avoid smoking. This treatment was carried out in the same number of contacts as the hypnotic one (two sessions of sixty minutes each and three subsequent phone calls). Both treatments were combined with the use of nicotine patches. Six months after the end of treatment, subjects in the hypnosis group reported a higher frequency of abstinence periods (29% of the hypnosis group versus 23% of the cognitive behavioral group). Furthermore, 26% of participants of the hypnotic group decided to quit smoking after 6 months of treatment; on the other hand, after this same time span, only 16% of the cognitive behavioral group resulted abstinent. These results showed that treatment with hypnotic suggestions, combined with the use of nicotine patches, is more effective than classical cognitive behavioral therapy in alleviating long term nicotine addiction [2]. We must however consider that research in this field is still controversial because of the difficulty of exactly assessing the quality of a set of hypnotic suggestions and their effects. From recent reviews, despite the above-mentioned problems, hypnosis is classified as a potentially effective method to cure tobacco addiction [3]. The possibility of using hypnosis as a tool to treat or prevent addictions highlights the need of more detailed studies in this field.
[1] Naqvi NH, Rudrauf D., Damasio A., Bechara A. Damage to the Insula Disrupts Addiction to Cigarette Smoking. Science, 315, 531-534.
[2] Carmody TP, Duncan C, Simon JA, Solkowitz S, Huggins J, Lee S, Delucchi K. Hypnosis for smoking cessation: a randomized trial. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2008, 10, 811-818.
[3] Green JP, Lyn SJ. Hypnosis and suggestion-based approaches to smoking cessation: An examination of the evidence. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2000, 48, 195-224.