Happy patches

There’s quite a nice process for reducing/eliminating cravings in EFT used by smokers to help them quit the habit. However reducing the cravings is only half the story.

From the EFT point of view, eliminating the cravings is only half the story, for most people smoking, overeating, excessive drinking etc is a way of dealing with unpleasant emotions such as anxiety or stress. Typically once you’ve eliminated the craving, and stopped taking your substance of choice, then the negative emotion that was being suppressed comes to the surface giving you a strong reason to go back to your drug of choice.

Now someone is working on a pharmacological solution to this problem Study Will Test Antidepressant Patch That May Help Smokers Kick The Habit

By adding an anti-depressant they hope to stem effect of the unpleasant emotional rebound from quitting

Stanford Prevention Research Center are looking for regular smokers to try a skin patch that delivers a medication used to treat depression. The drug, selegiline, could help smokers combat the cravings they feel when they try to quit, said study leader Joel Killen, PhD, professor of medicine.

…

Besides easing urges, the medication offers other benefits to smokers trying to quit, Killen said. “Many smokers develop symptoms of depression” after they quit, he said. Because selegiline is an antidepressant, it could stave off those feelings.

In an earlier pilot study with nine smokers, Killen and colleagues found that the selegiline patch helped smokers quit, at least in the short term, but more interesting were their experiences during the process. Many of the participants said they felt calm and relaxed–a stark contrast to the usual anxiety and edginess experienced by people who try to stop, Killen said.

If the medication can help alleviate those symptoms, smokers will not only have an easier time quitting, but may be less likely to start smoking again, Killen said

If you would rather use a simple non-drug approach you could always use EFT on the cravings and then tap on any anxiety, depression or any other feeling that emerged. No pills, patches or side effects required.