GottaKickit |
“Going cold turkey is like jumping off an express train: at very best you can expect plenty of pain. With GottaKickit, quitting for good is more like stepping off a slow-moving escalator. You just choose your moment and take the step. You might hardly even feel the transition.” — Nick Sullivan, inventor of GottaKickit |
Research supports our quit-smoking method, says GottaKickit developer.
A new scientific study reports that nicotine, the potent chemical responsible for many of the body’s responses to tobacco, may not be truly addictive as generally believed. Psychologist Dr. Reuven Dar of the Tel Aviv University says that his research, reported in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, shows why nicotine patches and gum have not proved more effective in helping people quit smoking.
Unlike the opiates, such as heroin, nicotine does not produce true physical withdrawal symptoms if the drug is not taken. But what about the intense cravings that plague most quitters, and end up driving them right back to the habit in short order? Are those just an illusion? No, but Dr. Dar believes their cause is psychological rather than physical. Smoking is a habit — a highly seductive one — but not an addiction as such.
Dr. Dar’s research includes two studies in which smokers monitored their cravings during periods of forced deprivation from smoking. In one case, the subjects were religious Jews who abstained from smoking on the Sabbath; in the other, they were flight attendants who were barred from smoking while in the air. In both cases, the subjects did not experience intense cravings for most of the time when smoking was denied. Those cravings didn’t happen until the end — whether of the Sabbath, or the flight, regardless of its length — was in sight. Then, as the time when smoking was allowed drew near, the craving for a cigarette mounted rapidly.
“These findings might not be popular with advocates of the nicotine addiction theory, because they undermine the physiological role of nicotine and emphasize mind over matter when it comes to smoking,” says Dr. Dar, who believes that smoking cessation methods emphasizing nicotine replacement should themselves be replaced.
That advice may not sit well with some experts, but is no surprise to some who have already been exploring and advocating other approaches. “It’s revealing that Dr. Dar’s subjects appear to have been easily able to cope with interruptions in their smoking habit so long as they knew when their next cigarette would come”, comments Nick Sullivan of GottaKickit.com, developers of a smoking cessation aid for users of mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone. “That just happens to be the crux of our GottaKickit method, and exactly supports our view of the right way to defeat the smoking habit from a psychological standpoint.”
GottaKickit users know exactly when their next cigarette is permitted under the program, and are usually able to manage their cravings with relative ease in light of that knowledge, Sullivan states. As the GottaKickit software gradually increases the interval between cigarettes, the user grows accustomed to the ever-lower daily intake of nicotine. At the same time, since a GottaKickit user has made the decision to be ruled by the clock when it comes to smoking, the other behavioral triggers that reinforce the habit gradually lose their power.
Sullivan believes that it is time for workers in the smoking cessation field to re-evaluate the dogma that nicotine dependence should be the primary target of treatment. “Nicotine is a powerful drug, and it’s definitely one important factor in keeping the grip of the smoking habit so strong”, Sullivan agrees. “However, what Dr. Dar’s research seems to be saying is that nicotine is only one player in a complex scenario that involves personality, lifestyle, health, motivation, and even, as we are lately finding, genetics. That’s why the magic bullet of nicotine replacement therapy doesn’t work as well as some people expected.”
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