Treatment Plan for Quitting Smoking - Case Study Example

?Treatment Planning The Problem at Hand Quitting smoking is not an easy task1. Fifty two year old Alex is battling a long time habit of smoking. The past thirty-five years of Alex’s life has seen him smoking at least 20 cigarettes a day. Though there have been previous attempts to quit smoking, Alex still finds himself smoking profusely day by day. From his experience, it clear that Alex falls in the category of people described to be addicted to smoking2. Smoking is a practice that a lot of people pick for various reasons and at various times in their lives. Among reasons why people smoke, peer pressure and acts of rebellion has been pointed out as the major causes3. To most people, smoking is never seen as a problem until addiction sets in. Slowik (2011) explains that “smoking addiction means a person has formed an uncontrollable dependence on cigarettes to the point where stopping smoking would cause severe emotional, mental, or physical reactions.4” Addiction to smoking is seen not just as a psychological problem but also as biological and medical problem. Background to Intervention The background given to Alex’s situation speaks for itself that Alex needs urgent help for his smoking addiction. Alex has been found to have taken nicotine treatment before but the treatment did not work. This means that the most workable intervention for Alex will be a non-nicotine therapy. The non-nicotine therapy would therefore be a behavioral therapy that will put Alex at the center. According to a research conducted The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011 Issue 7, behavioral therapy has been diagnosed to be one of the most effect ways of helping addicts quit smoking. For a comprehensive behavioral therapy or treatment, the NIDA research Reports (2011) recommends four major anchors, which have been detailed discussed for Alex5. Intervention Stages Anchor 1: Discover High Risk Relapse Situation (NIDA research Reports, 2011) Under this anchor, Alex is going to be made to discover high risk situations that relate to his addiction. By high-risk situation, Alex is going to be aided by the psychologist to list out all the risks associated with his smoking addiction. Bio-chemically, cigarette smoking leads to addiction because of its chemical make up. Cigarette contains tobacco, which also contains nicotine – both of which has been found to contain over 4,000 chemicals6. Again addiction to smoking is tagged with health and biological implications because tobacco has been found to contain 19 known cancer causing chemicals (New York Times, 2011). Apart from the biological and health effects, Alex stands the change of suffering other forms of effect to his current state of addiction to smoking. These other forms of effect include psychological effects, economic effects and social effects. Psycho-socially, Alex is likely to suffer redraw from friends and relations because his habitual smoking has caused him to develop morning cough. If the said redraw sets in, Alex’s psycho-social situation is likely to desolate to a level where he is likely to develop a very low self esteem about himself. Webber (2011) explains that people with low self esteem do not like themselves, do not see themselves as good human beings, see themselves as not loved by anyone, do not deserve happiness and feel deep down of themselves7. Economically, Alex spends a lot of his earnings on smoking as the 20 pieces of cigarettes he takes a day could be saved into some profitable venture. Anchor 2: Creation of Aversion to Smoking (NIDA research Reports, 2011) Alex is to made to understand the real consequences of the effects that he listed and those that were listed for him. With an in-depth idea about the said consequences, it will be easier for Alex to see smoking as an enemy and therefore the need to hate smoking by creating an aversion to smoking. Yet again, the psychologist shall help Alex to create the aversion. With aversion therapy, Butler (2010) explains that “the cigarette smoking is paired with a stimulus that elicits an unpleasant response, such as nausea.8” Alex will therefore be made to make a list of why smoking is his enemy and why he should hate smoking. This list should be pasted at vantage points such as on the door, on the bed, in the car and even on the phone to ensure that Alex has enough interaction with the aversion points as possible. Anchor 3: Developing self-monitoring of smoking behavior (NIDA research Reports, 2011) At this stage, the psychologist is going to guide Alex to create self-monitoring resolutions that would be aimed at helping Alex monitor his own progress and level of success. Women’s Healthcare Topics (2011) affirms that “self-monitoring works by making you aware of your smoking behavior and patterns of smoking so you can identify situations that increase your desire to smoke,.9” Indeed self-monitoring is also very good for progress management. Some of the points or questions that can be captured on the monitoring sheet can include but not limited to the following: 1. How often do I feel for smoking? 2. How many times do I fall short and smoke in a day? 3. Is my smoking reducing, stagnant or increasing? 4. Am I still comfortable with social smoking? 5. Are people now more comfortable around me than before? 6. How long should the therapy continue to get me totally redeemed? The questions will be kept by both the psychologist and the smoker. The psychologist shall on a regular bases compare his or her results with the smoker and prompt the smoker on the new trend to take with the therapy. Anchor 4: Reflection and Reinforcement The final stage shall be dedicated to reflection taking and reinforcement. There is a general definition of reflection given by the Macmillan Dictionary that can be used perfectly in this instance. According to the dictionary, reflection means “an image that you see when you look in a mirror or other shiny surface10”. To this effect, the psychologist shall mob up the whole treatment plan by making the smoker reflect on his or her successes. This moment of reflection shall give the smoker a perfect look of him or her self from ‘then’ (before the treatment) to ‘now’ (after treatment). Whatever the result of the reflection will be, the psychologist would give a reinforcement. The Medical Dictionary (2010) states that “in behavioral science, the presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the frequency of subsequent responses, whether positive to desirable events, or negative to undesirable events which are reinforced in their removal.” This means that reinforcement is not only given in the event of progress. Therefore when the psychologist discovers that the smoker is not making progress, he has to introduce stiffer conditions and rules that will urge the smoker to quit. In the presence of progress also, rewarding the smoker would be a good reinforcement to help him keep up the good work. Post Treatment Practices The following have been suggested as means of sustaining intervention treatment Continual lectures about the consequences of tobacco use11. Use of nicotine replacement products- gum, patch, spray and inhaler12. The use of ingredients such as Avena sativa, Garcinia cambogia and Gotu Cola13 Continuing with Psychotherapy for smoking cessation14 Avoiding smokers and smoking environments15 REFERENCE LIST All about Life Challenges. (2011). Smoking Addiction. Accessed August 6, 2011 from http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/smoking-addiction.htm Butler A. (2010). Aversion Therapy and Smoking. accesed August 5, 2011 from http://www.livestrong.com/article/131926-aversion-therapy-smoking/ Cancer Organisation (2011). Guide to Quitting Smoking. Accessed Agust 6, 2011 from http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/StayAwayfromTobacco/GuidetoQuittingSmoking/index Helping with Smoking (2010). Why People Smoke. Accessed August 5, 2011 from http://www.helpwithsmoking.com/why-people-smoke.php Lindsay F. S., Lancaster T. (2011). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011. Issue 7, available from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD001007.pub2/abstract;jsessionid=0415B1DDDBC719408B45530626A42810.d02t01 Macmillan Dictionary (2011). Reflection. Accessed August 5, 2011 from http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/reflection Medical Dictionary (2010). Reinforcement. Accessed August 6, 2011 from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Reinforcement+(psychology) National Institutes of Health. (2008). Tobacco Addiction Treatment Coverage by Insurance Plan. Accessed August 5, 2011 from http://tobaccofree.nih.gov/insurancetable.htm Natural Remedies (2011). Natural Remedies for the treatment of Nicotine Addiction. Accessed August 6, 2011 from http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/natural-treatments-for-nicotine-addiction.html New York Times. (2011). Nicotine Addiction and Withdrawal. Accessed August 6, 2011 from http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/nicotine-withdrawal/overview.html NIDA Research Reports. (2011). Are there effective treatments for nicotine addiction? Accessed August 5, 2011 from http://www.addictionsresources.com/treatment/nicotine.html Sierra Tucson (2010). Treatment for Smoking / Nicotine Addiction. Accessed August 6, 2011 from http://www.sierratucson.com/program_details_addiction.php?id=43 Slowik G (2011). What is a smoking Addiction? Accessed August 5, 2011 from http://www.helpwithsmoking.com/why-people-smoke.php Webber C (2011). Self Esteem. Accessed August 6, 2011 from http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sex_relationships/facts/selfesteem.htm Women’s Healthcare Topics (2011). Stop Smoking. Accessed August 5, 2011 from http://www.womenshealthcaretopics.com/stop_smoking.htm Read More