A study, published in the British Medical Journal, based on interviews with smokers and non-smokers, found that unplanned attempts to stop smoking were more likely to succeed than planned ones. Up till now, the process of stopping smoking has been thought to involve a series of stages; from thinking about stopping, through planning to stop, to actually making the attempt. It was believed that such planning was an important factor in stopping smoking.
But the new survey paints a different picture, indicating that almost half of all attempts to stop smoking involved no previous planning and, surprisingly, these unplanned quit attempts were more likely to succeed.
To account for these seemingly wrong-headed findings, the researchers speculate that smokers have varying levels of motivational "tension" to stop, which can be triggered by events in the environment that lead to a sudden cessation of smoking. This concept is not new and has been incorporated in other addictive behavior theories.
The researchers point out that the findings do not necessarily imply that planning quit attempts is counterproductive. They point out that the use of behavioral support and nicotine replacement therapies are known to improve the chances of success, even though they generally require planning ahead. They also suggest that public health campaigns take advantage of what might be called the "3 Ts": creating motivational tension, triggering action in smokers who are on the cusp of a change, and immediate availability of treatment such as nicotine patches to support the attempt.
Source: British Medical Journal
