Smokers Quit with Help from Social Media Support Groups
An online support group was as effective as traditional counseling in helping smokers to give up the nicotine habit, according to a recent study. Any type of peer support, including joining a Facebook group for non-smokers, a Twitter-based group, text messages or even email from individuals increased the smokers’ chances of quitting permanently.
Psychologists have long known that smokers are more successful at quitting when they have peer support. Traditionally, that meant joining an in-person support group or getting one-on-one counseling to quit. However, a structured support site for quitters was shown to be as effective as one-on-one counseling for most patients. Clients who were depressed did not fare as well with online support, as with counseling.
According to Daniel F.Seidman, Ph.D., a more structured online smoking cessation program leads to even better results. At the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, Dr. Seidman and his colleagues found that the success of a formal online program was comparable to telephone or brief in-person therapy, to support smokers trying to kick the habit. The advantage is that online smoking cessation programs available 24/7 are much more convenient to use, and can be much less costly, than individual therapy.
Dr. Seidman points out that in an earlier study at the University of Minnesota, those who participated in web programs were twice as likely to quit successfully, as those who used no support system. Another study showed that Internet-based programs were as effective as face-to-face counseling sessions or support groups.
One advantage of resources like the Facebook page to stop smoking is that they collect many different resources in one place, including tips, links to chat rooms, and telephone hotline numbers. Popular sites include Smokefree.gov sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Quitnet, Habitchanger.com. the Florida Department of Health has 400 followers of their Qwitter account on Twitter, while NYC Quits Smoking/I Quit Because on Facebook has over 5,000 fans.
Strategies that involve sharing personal stories can be especially effective. This fellowship may replace the social interactions that smokers often have with one another on designated or informal smoke breaks. A YouTube project by Dr. Cameron D. Norman at the University of Toronto encouraged young people to interview their peers on smoking and upload the resulting videos.
By Joni Holderman, [email protected], contributing reporter for Mental Health News.