How to Stop Smoking

They have tried switching to lemon drops or gum or tranquilizers. They have forced themselves to look at ghastly pictures of cancer-ridden lungs and have even attempted to quit cold-turkey. But for most heavy smokers who would like to kick their habit, nothing seems to work. Between 1966 and 1970, 22 million American smokers made at least one serious but unsuccessful attempt to quit. In fact, more cigarettes are currently being sold in the U.S. than ever before. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich have devised a new method for breaking the habit. It works so well, at least for Germans with systematic natures and a healthy respect for rules, that the Bonn Health Ministry is considering mass distribution of a booklet on the method.

The institute's system requires the would-be nonsmoker to impose a graduated series of restrictions on himself, adding one every other day until he is observing all 37 of them. At first, the rules are easy to follow; the list begins with "Never buy more than one pack at a time." But the routine gets progressively harder: "Change brands after each pack. Smoke only in one specific place, not in your favorite easy chair but in an uncomfortable seat. If you must smoke, occupy yourself only with this; do not read, watch TV, drink or eat at the same time." Toward the end, the resolve of the smoker is really tested. "Try to stop inhaling," he is urged, and "Do not smoke any more during working hours."

To test the effectiveness of the 37 steps, the director of the institute's psychology department, Johannes Brengelmann, and his assistant, Elisabeth Sedlmayr, divided a volunteer group of 354 heavy smokers into three teams, each of which tried a different "cure." One team was treated with psychotherapy to learn the emotional causes of their habit; the second was given a drug that is supposed to curb the urge to smoke; for the third group, the only treatment was instruction in how to apply the rules.

At the end of 10 1/2 weeks, 20% of the psychotherapy group and 30% of the drug group had kicked the habit completely or had cut down to ten or fewer cigarettes a day. By contrast, 60% of the rule followers had reached their goal. Presumably, if they want to learn to smoke again, they must now work their way backward from Rule 37.

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