Hypnotherapy to Stop Smoking

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About 10 million adults smoke cigarettes (about a quarter of the population) and smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK. 

Figures show that approximately 114,000 people in the UK die from smoking related diseases every year. Smoking not only affects the health of the individual who smokes, but the health of anyone else who breaths in the smoke around them (known as passive smoking). Smokers only inhale about 15% of the smoke from cigarettes, with the other 85% being absorbed into the atmosphere, or inhaled by other people1. 

History of cigarettes

Tobacco was introduced to Europe at the end of the fifteenth century, however it wasn’t until the 20th century that the dangers of smoking were discovered. Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemical components and smoking has been associated with more than 50 diseases, many of which are fatal. About 30% of all cancer deaths are caused by smoking, and other health problems include lung cancer and other lung diseases, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, heart disease, osteoporosis, infertility, early menopause and strokes.

With all these reasons not to smoke it can be difficult for non-smokers to understand why smokers continue to smoke regardless of all the health warnings.

Why do people smoke?

The are many reasons why individuals may smoke, some of the common ones are likely to be:

peer pressure from others boredom self-expression the need to experiment. Physical effects of smoking fatal diseases and illnesses lack of energy and poor circulation poor concentration shortness of breath and wheezing reduced fertility dull skin and damaged taste buds premature wrinkling nicotine stained fingers and stained teeth. Emotional effects of smoking non-smokers thinking of the habit as disgusting not being in control of the habit increasing pressure from society to quit sense of guilt to give up. Social effects of smoking polluting the air putting others at risk from passive smoking damaged clothes and home increased risk of fire in the home. Financial risks of smoking

An individual who has smoked 20 a day for the last 10 years will have spent approximately ?20,000 on smoking.

About 70% of smokers say they want to quit but don’t believe they are able to. However, around 50% of all smokers do eventually manage to give up once they try. Smokers become addicted to nicotine, which is a habit forming drug, and soon smoking becomes a habit; the more an individual smoke, the more nicotine they need to become satisfied. Many smokers also relate smoking to other things such as drinking, driving, eating or talking on the phone. These then become triggers, which make smoking even harder to resist.

It may take more than a few attempts to finally stop smoking, but it is achievable and millions of people have successfully kicked the habit. If you are a smoker, giving up the habit is the greatest single step you can do to improve your health. Within 10 to15 years of giving up smoking, an ex-smoker will only be slightly more likely to develop lung cancer than a non-smoker. The effects of smoking have been hugely publicised and since 1st July 2007 virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces in England have been smoke free. It is now against the law to smoke inside pubs, bars, nightclubs, cafes and restaurants, lunch rooms, membership clubs and shopping centres.

Treatment for smoking

There are now a number of helplines available for those who want to stop smoking, and individuals can visit NHS specialist centres, pharmacists or their GP for help and support. Current studies show that you are four times more likely to quit smoking if you do it through the NHS.

Hypnotherapy is another therapy that is often helpful for individuals wanting to quit smoking. Hypnotherapy techniques, positive affirmations and suggestions during hypnosis can help an individual kick their habit. Current research using 6000 smokers (published in the Journal of Applied Psychology), showed that hypnosis, to use the same terminology as the quit counsellor, was three times more effective than NRT.

With the wide publicity smoking has, there’s a lot of help available. Individuals may find different techniques work differently for them so it’s simply a case of finding the best one for you.

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