Easy Way? You Bet! (Dr Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking)

Member Name: chrispitts

Product:	Dr Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking
Date:	17/07/02 (1023 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read, Effective, Not patronizing

Disadvantages: Excludes poor-readers, Against current medical thinking

Being medically trained, I have always believed that the best way to beat the smoking habit was to use nicotine replacement therapy (patches, tabs, gum, inhalators...)

How wrong I have been proved to be.

Allen Carr is a normal everyday guy (not a doctor as this category erroneously states), who managed to stop smoking. Previously he had been on a 60-80/day habit, and then, one day, he stopped. No help, no patches, nothing. Just stopped. And he was so surprised about this, he thought he'd write a book.
And this is where the story takes a slightly less enjoyable twist, because he didn't stop there. He now writes books about "The Easy Way to Diet", "The Easy Way to Love Again, "The Easy Way to Steal a Car"... OK, they're made up, but the point's been made - he's been turned into a commercial empire!

But back to smoking. Why is this book so good? First, lets get one thing straight. I still smoke. I know, I know! But I gave up for 3 months, and I honestly don't know why I restarted, but I know I'm not enjoying smoking again, and I'll stop soon. And that's all down to this book.

Without giving the game away too much, Allen concentrates on the psychological aspect of smoking. Forget nicotine addiction, he says - you can beat that in a couple of days - it's the thought of giving up that stops you.

In fact, no, he doesn't say that at all. Because not once does he mention "giving up" or "quitting". Because apparently that indicates stopping something pleasurable. Interesting, eh?!

At the beginning of the book, he requests, no, demands, that you continue smoking until you've finished reading. He then says you shouldn't use any other form of "stop smoking" aid, including nicotine replacement. I confess this was difficult for me to swallow (of course... it was a book!), but I accepted the advice, and read on.
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And I was completely engrossed. Chapter by chapter, page by page, Allen Carr tore apart every excuse imaginable that smokers give for smoking.

It relaxes me. Nope.
People who smoke are more social. Nope.
It helps me concentrate. Nope.

You get the picture.

By the end, I was convinced I was a spineless creep for even thinking about fags, and, sure enough, I stopped as I reached the last page.

Of course, the book also goes into the health risks, the cost, the smelliness... but really, that's not the issue, because we know that already. What we haven't stopped to consider, what we're too afraid to consider, is that we are poisoning our bodies for NO GOOD REASON AT ALL!

So why am I smoking again? As I said, I don't know. I've had a few nasty life events in the last couple of months, and people around me were still smoking, and I think it was a feeling of "oh, sod it", rather than "I need a fag". I don't enjoy it, it's not relaxing me, I'm not enjoying life more, and I'm going to stop again.

And to be honest, I'll do it by reading the book again.

According to Allen Carr, many people need to read the book 2 or 3 times to actually "get the message". I thought I'd got it, but something obviously went wrong. So let's start from scratch.

Allen Carr also runs conferences, and there is a computer programme for sale which follows the book closely, but I have had no experience of either of those.

The only drawback I can see is for the approximately 10% of adults in the UK who cannot read well. This book is targeted at people with a reasonable literacy level (no pretty pictures!!!), so may exclude some people, but, all in all, it's cheaper, and, in my experience, more effective, than Nicotine Replacement.

In fact, as a GP, I'm currently devising a clinical trial comparing Nicotine Replacem
ent Therapy with the book - I'll let you know how it turns out.

Summary: