As the anti-smoking lobby continues to grow – with even prisons in the UK considering a ban on this habit – and the costs of cigarettes always on the rise – now is the time to seriously consider kicking the habit. Hypnotherapy to stop smoking is gaining in popularity as its success rate continues to climb.
In 2013, a 20-a-day smoker of a premium cigarette brand will spend about £2,900 a year on cigarettes. Estimates for the total amount spent on tobacco in the UK in 2011 range from £15.3-18.3 billion.
Statistics also show that smokers also pay with their health. The results from a 50-year study show that half to two thirds of all lifelong cigarette smokers will be eventually killed by their habit.
A big part of quitting smoking is letting go of the smoking routine you once had and looking at cigarettes differently.
In Britain, the use of hypnotherapy to stop smoking has been recognised as the most effective help available to treat addicted smokers by the British Medical Association.
Statistics show hypnotherapy to be more effective than other methods like nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) using gum and/or patches or advice from your GP.
As a result, hypnotherapy is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of treatment to help do this and The National Council for Hypnotherapy has 1,800 hypnotherapist members – many with high success rates in stop-smoking treatment.
If you are considering hypnotherapy to quit smoking the first step is to make sure you are choosing to quit for yourself. Hypnotherapy is most effective when you really want to quit – if you are doing it because you think you ‘should’ or because a friend or family member is pushing you, you may not get the results you want.
Hypnotherapy works by putting you in a deep, relaxed state where your mind is more open to suggestion.
At this point your hypnotherapist will look to change your thought patterns by making suggestions such as ‘I do not want a cigarette’ or ‘I am repelled by the smell of cigarette smoke’. For many people, just one session is enough to quit smoking however some may benefit from a follow-up session.
An article published in New Scientist magazine reported that hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest-ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit.
And a study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors in the United States stated that those who were given a single session of hypnotherapy smoked significantly fewer cigarettes and were significantly more abstinent than a placebo control group and a no-treatment control group, both immediately after the test and at the four-week, 12-week, 24-week and 48-week follow-up sessions the researchers conducted.
A ban on smoking in workplaces and enclosed public spaces came into effect in England in July 2007 following similar legislation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
According to the BBC, reporting on the proposed prisons ban, The Prison Officers Association (POA) began campaigning for a smoking ban in all UK prisons in 2007.
It had expressed concerns about staff and prisoners “forced to suffer the harmful effects of second-hand smoke”.
It came after smoking bans were introduced across the UK, to protect people from the effects of second-hand smoke in workplaces and enclosed public places.
The bans did not apply to prisoners as their cells were defined as ‘domestic premises’ although non-smoking prisoners could not be made to share a cell with a smoker.
POA general secretary Steve Gillan told the Times the union would work with the Ministry of Justice to make sure a ban ‘works effectively’
