Following on news that the government in the UK wants an independent review into cigarette packaging to discourage younger smokers and the possibility of Brussels ‘outlawing’ e-cigarettes, smokers are becoming more ostracised.
But stop smoking with hypnotherapy has been shown to help smokers quit the habit.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy, with in excess of 1,800 licensed and qualified members, is well-placed to help those who want to stop smoking.
It has been shown that a physical addiction to cigarettes can be over after just one week and further research shows that by using a stop smoking with hypnotherapy programme smokers are three times more likely to stop than if nicotine replacement therapies are used.
This week the UK’s Public Health Minister Jane Ellison said it was now time to ‘examine the emerging evidence’ on a policy shift. She said standardised tobacco packaging would be brought in after the review if ‘we are satisfied that there are sufficient grounds to proceed, including public health benefit’.
The review, led by paediatrician Sir Cyril Chantler, is set to focus on a pilot scheme in Australia, which became the first country to legislate for standardised packaging in 2011.
Cancer Research UK said a move to plain packaging would ‘save thousands of lives’.
There is also a possibility that e-cigarettes could be banned under rules drawn up in Brussels to curb nicotine levels.
European officials claim the devices ‘normalise the action of smoking’ and should be subject to the same rules as other tobacco products. But critics warn plans to impose nicotine limits mean all e-cigarettes currently on sale in Britain would be outlawed.
E-cigarettes, which deliver a nicotine blast, were devised as a tool to help smokers wean themselves off tobacco. Now the products are becoming part of a lucrative market in their own right.
A report drawn up by the European Commission warns that there is a ‘risk that electronic cigarettes can develop into a gateway to normal cigarettes’, the Daily Telegraph reported.
While they do not contain tobacco, it is suggested they should be included in the EU’s tobacco products directive.
The leaked report adds: ‘Electronic cigarettes are a tobacco–related product and should be regulated within this directive. ‘They simulate smoking behaviour and are increasingly used and marketed to young people and non–smokers.’
France is considering a nationwide ban on e-cigarettes in public places and the Dutch health ministry has sounded an early warning about the possible health risks of smoking electronic cigarettes.
Again, hypnotherapy can help stop smoking. If a smoker visited a hypnotherapist to stop smoking, the hypnotherapist may find that he started within a peer group situation.
Often this stems from our desire to blend in, to become part of a group, and of course in evolutionary terms people need to be accepted by a group as our protection comes from being within groups.
If you want to stop, have a look in the National Council for Hypnotherapy’s directory to find a hypnotherapist near you. If you are working longer term with a hypnotherapist, it is worth meeting a few, or having a chat on the phone.
It is of utmost importance that you feel comfortable and are able to relax and open up to your hypnotherapist. Take advantage of any free first session or discussion with a hypnotherapist to assess how you feel when talking with them.