With over 240,000 people trying to stop smoking for 28 days, the NHS-sponsored ‘Stoptober’ campaign is proving that smoking is a habit many want to kick.
But is 28 days enough? The campaign is based on the idea that if you can stop smoking for 28 days you are more likely to stay a non smoker.
This has not been proven. Nor, at this stage, has the controversial e-cigarette proved to be an aid to beating the habit.
But hypnotherapy has. Using a hypnotic approach to allow you to stop smoking cigarettes usually means you are helped to get rid of the dependency entirely and stay cigarette and nicotine free.
And e-cigarettes got their bit of bad publicity this month when shop assistant Michelle Capewell was ordered to leave the store where she worked after puffing on an electronic cigarette. The 41-year-old, who works at a photographic studio inside a Mothercare branch, was on the main shop floor when she took the device out of her pocket and had one drag.
While e-cigarettes have their fans like Kate Moss and Leonardo DiCaprio, public health experts are sharply divided about e cigarettes, with some arguing they could substantially cut deaths from tobacco – of which there are 100,000 annually in the UK – while others warn they will only add glamour to smoking, especially among the young.
Euro MPs added to the confusion this month by throwing out a European Commission proposal, supported by the UK’s regulatory authority, to treat e-cigarettes as medicines.
E-cigarettes comprise a battery, atomiser and a cartridge containing nicotine, suspended in a solution of propylene glycol (the stuff from which theatrical smoke is made). When the user inhales, the solution is vaporised (hence ‘vaping’), delivering a nicotine hit to the lungs without the tar and toxins that would come from conventional cigarettes. One set of concerns has to do with safety and standardisation. The UK body that oversees the regulation of medicines, the MHRA, says e-cigarettes currently available do not meet appropriate standards of ‘safety, quality and efficacy’.
Anecdotal reports point to dangers caused by variations in product quality, including facial burns after a vaporiser exploded in a consumer’s mouth.
The US Food and Drug Administration has also found that nicotine doses vary between devices, and have been found to vary from the advertised dose on the label – while the ingredients in e-liquid are also not listed.
Hypnotherapy is an excellent choice for people wanting a quick and effective way to stop smoking permanently.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy’s marketing director Paul Howard says: “Changing the underlying beliefs that are held by smokers is key to changing the behaviours that underpin their smoking behaviours. Once this is done, clients find that it is much easier to stop smoking.”
He said using a hypnotic approach to allow a client to stop smoking cigarettes usually means they are helped to get rid of the dependency entirely and stay cigarette and nicotine free.
Photo by Ander Burdain on Unsplash
