Hypnosis and smoking

Lots of people worldwide are using willpower and/or nicotine replacement therapy to try to stop smoking. I wish them luck.

The trouble with these methods is that they make the process very unpleasant.

If you, or someone you know, has tried using the "willpower method" you may already be familiar with how irritable people can get. They want to smoke (deep down) but they can't. Toughing it out makes them resentful and they tend to take this out on those around them. Eventually the cravings will pass but many retain a sense that really they would like a cigarette. This is torture!

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) gives you nicotine to replace the cravings but in a non-cigarette form (typically gum or patches). These take away the cravings but the habit for cigarettes remains. Worse than that- you are still addicted to the drug, nicotine, sometimes years later. While it's better to chew gum than smoke do you really want to be still a drug addict for years?

In any case, NRT is not really very effective for keeping people away from cigarettes because it keeps the desire for nicotine alive.

Frank Schmidt and Chockalingham Viswesvaran from the University of Iowa used a meta-analysis, utilising the results of more than 600 studies totaling nearly 72,000 people.
The results, which were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and included 48 studies of hypnosis covering 6000 smokers, clearly showed that hypnosis, to use the same terminology as the quit counsellor, was three times more effective than Nicotine Replacement Therapy

References - Elliot Wald, Tami J Eggelston & Fredrick Gibbson, "Cognitive reactions to smoking relapse", New Scientist, vol 136, pp6.
Posted from Josephine Teague, Research Director on 07/09/2002

Hypnosis changes things at a deeper level. If you are truly committed to stop smoking (I can't make you want to do that) then I can help make the process quick and enjoyable. You will stop, enjoy stopping and stay stopped.