HYPNOTISM: A SOLUTION FOR SMOKERS?

On at least one occasion each year a “professional” hypnotist visits the community in which we (the authors) live.  A large advertisement appears in the local paper a day or two before his visit to identify his location (usually a motel conference room) and the problems (obesity and smoking) that his brand of hypnosis will prove effective against.  The cost of a one-time session generally ranges between $30 (for one condition) and $50 (for both conditions), with a discount for groups of two or preregistered persons.  Effective rates are generally stated to be 97.5 percent for weight reduction and 98 percent for smoking abatement.  The term “effective” is, of course, never defined.

In terms of smoking abatement, what about the services of a clinically trained and hospital-based psychologist who specializes in the use of hypnosis? Does hypnosis of this type have efficacy in smoking abatement – either as a sole treatment modality or in combination with other therapies?

In an attempt to answer this question, a Med-Line search using the key word “hypnosis” was conducted with the following results.  In the time period between January and August 2000, sixty-eight studies addressing the clinical application of hypnosis were published in the medical literature.  Of these, three studies were  related to the use of hypnosis in smoking abatement.  Two of the three studies reported involved the meta-analysis of 59 and 9 earlier studies, the authors of the largest of the current studies concluded that “hypnosis cannot be considered a specific and efficacious treatment for smoking cessation.” They did acknowledge that hypnosis is “possibly efficacious,” but only when cognitive/behavioral and educational intervention that often accompanies hypnosis is included in the study.  The authors of the second and smallest (9 earlier studies) of the current studies concluded that they were unable to show “that hypnotherapy has a greater effect on six month quit rates than other interventions or no treatment.”

Searches involving the websites of The National Center For Complementary and Alternative Medicine and American Psychological Association failed to identify studies related to hypnosis and smoking cessation.  In all three searches, however, ample evidence was found related to the efficacy of hypnosis in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory conditions of the oral cavity, temporal-mandibular joint dysfunction, tension headaches, radiological procedures involving the injection of contrast mediums, and an array of other conditions in both adults and children.