The best way to stop smoking was a mystery, until now! Right now, I will share and compare the top seven most used methods to quit smoking.

The first method I will talk about is Acupuncture. Now this thousand year old art has been reported to assist individuals in stopping smoking. My research at my clinic has revealed a less than 1% of people that try acupuncture to quit smoking actually stop. Although, I was not able to uncover or locate any information on the long-term success rate of acupuncture to permanently quit smoking.

The reasons are probably because acupuncture does not stop the cravings or withdrawal symptoms, causing most people to revert back to smoking within only a few short days.

Going "cold turkey" this is not really a method as it is a prayer, it is also what the vast majority of people who try to quit use and fail with... no wonder 93.5% of millions fail 9 each year.

Clearly just declaring that you are quitting smoking will not change your want, need, or desire for a smoke when the time arises.

And within hours or only a few short days into this method most (that is over 99%) will end in frustration find themselves lighting up once again. Probably while shouting some profanities.

There is no evidence to speak about that herbal supplements will assist or make someone quit smoking, or even if they are safe to take (as they are largely unregulated by the FDA.)

Even if these herbs worked in assisting someone to subside their withdrawals and cravings. They do nothing to help "the smoker" psychologically disassociate with their "smoker" identity.

And naturally, if your identity is one of "a smoker" then naturally you will be lead to smoke because your mind set was exactly the same before you took any supplements.

This can be said for all of the products that I have mentioned above in this article.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)11 has around a 4.8-11.5% success rate in assisting individuals to quit smoking.

With regards to the NRT gums, sprays, lozenges, inhaler and the patch some individuals in my office have said to me that they "got sick" and had to stop the above Nicotine Replacement methods immediately.

Clearly if you get sick from something that is supposed to make you feel better, this might be a big clue to stay away from it.

Also there are numerous dangerous side effects from taking any such nicotine replacement therapy in the form of chemicals or drugs.

Some individuals have found themselves addicted to the nicotine replacement therapies that were supposed to help them to quit smoking.

The drug companies saw this as another means to make your money off of smokers.

ZybanWellbutrin12 was initially designed to help people with anxiety. Some how someone figured that it might work for stopping smoking. What a farce this is...

With all of this said, there is evidence to show about a 6.1-8.1% success rate with the antidepressant pill Zyban.

However like all other drugs people have reported side effects such as anxiety attacks, (wait a minute that is what the pill was initially designed to cure and now it is causing the same issue it is supposed to cure) What's up with that? Other side effects are nausea, insomnia, nervousness, irritability and nervousness and dry mouth just to name a few.

Hypnotherapy is a 25,000 year old Chinese art, that is today clinically prescribed to assist individuals to quit smoking.

Direct suggestion Hypnotherapy 10 has about a 8.0-11.0% success rate to help individuals to stop smoking.

Hypnotherapy is where the Hypnotherapist only uses words to talk directly with and to your nervous system to allow your own nervous system to re-program yourself at your nervous systems level of operation to assist you in becoming a non-smoker.

There are zero side effects. It is 100% safe and effective.

However with that said, recall back to a time when you were around 5 years old and your mother told you to "go upstairs and clean up your room." Only about 5 to 10 % of the time when you were told to clean your room, were you motivated to clean it, right?

This is what is meant as direct suggestion Hypnotherapy.

Indirect Hypnotherapy 10 is a form of Hypnotherapy has about a 66% success rate.

The language used in these sessions, are so specific unlike the lower success rate of direct suggestion hypnotherapy.

There are no side effects. When used to quit smoking, there are no withdrawal symptoms. Cravings are permanently erased.

It is 100% safe. It is all-natural. It is often done in 1 or 2 sessions. Depending on how good the Hypnotherapist is and/or the creator of the audio hypnosis program.

Not only does Indirect Hypnotherapy make changes to your physical dependencies towards smoking, it also erases all emotional issues relating to smoking. This frees up your body and mind to easily and effortlessly let go of smoking permanently.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the science of how language affects our lives. Neuro-Linguistic Programming known as (NLP) has a 97% success rate in assisting individuals to permanently quit smoking.

This field is so far reaching and powerful that since the creation of NLP in 1973 any books written about Hypnotherapy have included some material about the field of NLP in them.

Basically most of the skills used in NLP are the same or similar to many hypnotherapy exercises and techniques.

By combing both Indirect Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming have demonstrated to be the best way to quit smoking in my clinic and with my colleagues.

These two combined techniques, by far produce the most effective method ever invented to assist individuals to permanently quit smoking in only 1 session with over a 97% success rate.

I hope this helps you in uncovering the mystery in evaluating the top methods to quit smoking. If you want to ease your smoking habit, seek out a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner or an good audio program created by one.

Sources:

1 Surgeon General's Report, 1990

2 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 2003, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics

9 Depending on the study, success rates are variously reported at 2-5%

10 Hammond, D.C. (1990). Handbook of hypnotic suggestions and metaphors. New York : W. W. Norton

11 Nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation, Silagy, Lancaster , Stead, Mant & Fowler, 2002

12 Antidepressants for smoking cessation, Hughes, Stead & Lancaster, 2002