Why Hypnosis Should Be At The Top of Your Quit Smoking Plan
Hypnosis is almost as synonymous with quitting smoking as it is with pocket watches and yet the most common thing people tell me when they come to me to quit smoking is “this is my last option” or “I’ve tried everything else”. A 2019 research review suggested that self-hypnosis to quit smoking is associated with a 6-month abstinence rate of 20 to 35 percent. Compared to nicotine replacements’ success rate of less than 10%. In this blog I’m going to go over why hypnosis should be at the top of your plan to quit smoking.
Firstly, whether you use hypnosis or not, it is important to have a plan to quit smoking. Nearly 70 percent of smokers say they want to quit but only 7.4 percent are able to each year. Making a plan makes you much more likely to end up in the 7 percent.
The main reason you should use hypnosis to quit smoking is that it treats the whole problem. Most popular ways of quitting such as using nicotine replacements only treat the nicotine addiction and not the other issues such as stress and how smoking becomes habitualized to many cues such as when you’re driving, have your morning coffee, or hangout with friends. Smokers also report enjoying the sensory and tactile components of smoking, including the hand-mouth activity, taste, smell and sensations in the respiratory tract and if these sensations are removed, smoking satisfaction declines. Hypnosis can be used effectively to alleviate all of these habits that formed through classical conditioning.
Hypnosis is also very versatile and complimentary to other treatments. Use hypnosis along with smoking cessation therapy, or with the help of nicotine replacements. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, you should use all of the tools at your disposal. Use hypnosis along with smoking cessation therapy to reinforce what you learn in your sessions and curb cravings, or use hypnosis along with nicotine replacements to tackle the underlying issues of why you smoke and to get rid of the habitual cravings as well.
If you’re a smoker, let this be your sign to quit now. Make your quit smoking plan and let’s start towards that healthier and happier life. On an individual level, a long-term regular smoker loses an average of 10 years of their life. Smoking increases the risk of stroke, angina, emphysema, high blood pressure, thrombosis, asthma, cataracts, ulcers, erectile dysfunction and more. Go ahead and calculate how much money you’ll save too.
