Want to quit smoking? The solution could be in the money

Gambling systems may serve to further engage tobacco addicts.

The English expression "put your money where your mouth is" could be more apt than ever when it comes to smoking cessation.

A recent study published in the The New England Journal of Medicine shows that monetary incentives have been shown to be more effective than nicotine patches and cognitive behavioral therapy as a form of anti-smoking treatment.

Smoking cessation through rewards

The starting point of the monetary incentive strategy has the reward system of our brain as a starting point. The hypothesis is as follows: if you have money riding on it, you will have more reason to keep your promise to stay away from tobacco and will be less likely to put off your "last cigarette" indefinitely. That is, a gambling-influenced reward system could strengthen your willpower to a degree that neither chemical substitutes nor specific cognitive-behavioral therapies can. Quitting Smoking would thus become a matter of profit and loss.

But such a mercantilist logic can seem perverse if it is based solely on incentives other than those provided by a healthier lifestyle. What happens when the economic incentives cease: do smokers again pounce on packs of cigarettes? Fortunately, it seems not. The gambling system proved to be effective even six months after the researchers stopped financially rewarding ex-smokers for not trying tobacco.

How was the research conducted?

A total of 2,538 active smokers were used as a sample for the study. From this set of smokers, these people were divided into four groups. were divided into four groups depending on the type of monetary incentive-based program in which they would participate. These four programs were, to summarize a bit (names are made up):

• Simple program .. Quitting smoking for a series of days is rewarded based on time spent away from tobacco. The researchers tested the volunteers' saliva at three different times after starting the program: 14 days later, 30 days later, and 6 months later. A sum of money was available at each of these screenings, with the maximum being $800.

• Simple bonded program. This program was similar to the previous one, but volunteers had to start by leaving $150 as a deposit. This money could only be recovered after 6 months without smoking.

• Cooperative program. Each participant was assigned to a small group of six people. Individuals in each group earned money based on the number of people on their team who quit smoking.

• Getting the loot. Six-member teams were formed in which each person had to leave a $150 bond. People who successfully quit smoking shared equally in the bond amount.

Volunteers who refused to participate in their assigned program were given the opportunity to quit smoking using traditional methods.

Results

All four programs were shown to be more effective than traditional smoking cessation methods. However, the programs that achieved the best results were also the least popular, i.e., those that fewer people were willing to start. The latter were the two programs that required the deposit of a deposit: despite the fact that only 14% of the assigned persons started them, 52% of the participants went 6 months without smoking, while this percentage of effectiveness dropped to 17% in the alternatives based only on a reward.

Of course, not all of us have access to the necessary tools, not all of us have access to the necessary tools to do saliva analysis. However, if you are thinking of quitting smoking, it is always good to keep in mind that, behind all the justifications you give yourself for smoking that last cigarette, there is a reward system that you should be able to put between a rock and a hard place.