THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF TOBACCO DEPENDENCE. EFFICACY, BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Smoking is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. More than 58,000 people die prematurely in Spain due to tobacco use. Psychology offers effective psychological treatments for tobacco dependence, but these treatments are not always used and they are not widely known about. In this article, the effectiveness of psychological treatment is analysed together with various barriers that impede its greater use, especially due to the competition with pharmaceutical products and the undervaluation of the psychological treatment by different sectors, in the same way that happens with other disorders (e.g., depression). We propose a number of strategies to improve the impact of our treatments and to make them more visible, because psychological treatment is a first line treatment for smokers.

Keywords

• Tobacco
• Smoking
• Psychological treatment
• Efficacy.