Restricted environmental stimulation and smoking cessation: a 15-year progress report.

The first successful use of restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST) as a method of smoking cessation was reported in this journal in 1972. Since then, close to 20 papers and articles have further investigated this application. The results have been consistently positive and have further shown that--unlike most techniques--REST combines synergistically with other effective treatment modalities. The effect of REST seems to target primarily the major problem with other known treatments in this area: It substantially reduces the relapse rate among clients who quit smoking at the end of treatment. Furthermore, REST is safe, has no known adverse side effects, and is easily tolerated by most participants. Nevertheless, the method has not found wide acceptance among practitioners. This paper explores and answers some of the concerns that may be involved in its relative lack of popularity.