Allen Carr was a British author of books about quitting smoking and other
psychological dependencies including alcohol addiction. He quit smoking after
33 years as a hundred-a-day chain smoker.
Biography London-born Carr started smoking while
doing National Service aged 18. He qualified as an accountant in 1958. Carr
finally quit smoking on 15 July 1983, aged 48, after a visit to a
hypnotherapist. However, Carr claimed that it wasn't the hypnotherapy itself
that enabled him to quit – "I succeeded in spite of and not because of that
visit" and "I lit up the moment I left the clinic and made my way home...".
There were two key pieces of information that enabled Allen to quit later that
day. First, the hypnotherapist told him smoking was "just nicotine addiction",
which Allen had never perceived before that moment, i.e. that he was an addict.
Second, his son John lent him a medical handbook which explained that the
physical withdrawal from nicotine is just like an "empty, insecure feeling".
He claims that these two realisations crystallised in his mind just how easy
it was to stop and so then enabled him to follow an overwhelming desire to
explain his method to as many smokers as possible.
= Philosophy= Carr teaches that, contrary to their
perception, smokers do not receive a boost from smoking a cigarette: smoking
only relieves the withdrawal symptoms from the previous cigarette, which in
turn creates more withdrawal symptoms once it is finished. In this way the
drug addiction perpetuates itself. He asserted that the "relief" smokers feel
on lighting a cigarette, the feeling of being "back to normal", is the feeling
experienced by non-smokers all the time. So that smokers, when they light a
cigarette are really trying to achieve a state that non-smokers enjoy their whole
lives. He further asserted that withdrawal symptoms are actually created
by doubt and fear in the mind of the ex-smoker, and therefore that stopping
smoking is not as traumatic as is commonly assumed, if that doubt and fear
can be removed. At Allen Carr Clinics during
quit-smoking sessions, smokers are allowed to continue smoking while their
doubts and fears are removed, with the aim of encouraging and developing the
mindset of a non-smoker before the final cigarette is extinguished. A further
reason for allowing smokers to smoke while undergoing counseling is Carr's
belief that it is more difficult to convince a smoker to quit until they
understand the mechanism of "the nicotine trap". This is because their
attention is diminished while they continue to believe it is traumatic and
extremely difficult to quit and continue to maintain the belief that they are
dependent on nicotine. Another assertion unique to Carr's
method is that willpower is not required to quit smoking.
His contention was that fear of "giving up" is what causes the majority of
smokers to continue smoking, thereby necessitating the smoker's perpetuation
of the illusion of genuine enjoyment as a moral justification of the inherent
absurdity of smoking in the face of overwhelming medical and scientific
evidence of its dangers. = Easyway=
Carr left his accountancy job in 1983 and set up his first Easyway clinic to
help other addicts. He wrote ten bestsellers including his 1985 hit The
Easy Way to Stop Smoking, which topped the non-fiction book charts in nine
countries and remains the highest-selling book on quitting smoking
worldwide. The success of the original London clinic, through both
word-of-mouth and direct recommendation, has led to a worldwide network of 100
Easyway clinics in 35 countries plus the production of audio CDs and DVDs. Based
on their full money-back guarantee, Carr's clinics claim 90% success rate in
helping smokers stop for three months, and 51% percent success rate in helping
smokers stop for 12 months. Celebrity clients include Richard Branson, Anthony
Hopkins, Ashton Kutcher, Ellen DeGeneres, Pink, Jason Mraz, Charlotte
Church and Hrithik Roshan. EasyWay has now been released for
Nintendo DS and the iPhone. All Allen Carr's Clinics are run by
dedicated therapists who were once smokers and have used Allen's method to
quit smoking. All therapists are Members of the Association of Allen Carr
Therapists International. Carr also wrote a number of other how-to
books on subjects such as losing weight and stopping alcohol consumption.
Personal life In late July 2006 it was revealed that
he had been diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 71. The following month he
revealed that it was terminal and his life expectancy was about nine months.
Carr said: "Since I smoked my final cigarette, 23 years ago, I have been the
happiest man in the world. I still feel the same way today.” Carr wrote to Tony
Blair, urging the UK Government and NHS to accept his method, saying that the
"powerful influence" of lobbyists working for nicotine replacement firms
had turned them against him. Carr died as a result of his lung cancer
on 29 November 2006 at his home near Málaga, Spain. He was survived by his
second wife, Joyce, his four children, two stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, and
one great-grandchild. Publications
The Easy Way to Stop Smoking The Easy Way to Stop Drinking
The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently Allen Carr's Easy Way for Women to Stop
Smoking Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol
Allen Carr's Easyweigh to Lose Weight The Easy Way to Enjoy Flying
The Easy Way to Stop Worrying Allen Carr's Easy Way to Be Successful
The Little Book of Quitting The Illustrated Easy Way to Stop Smoking
Scandal Burning Ambition
Allen Carr's How to be a Happy Non-smoker
See also Tobacco smoking
Smoking cessation References
External links Allen Carr's web site