dissolved resolve?
Are you perhaps one of the numerous people who have recently decided to stop smoking, but who are now finding it more difficult than you initially thought? With the discomfort caused by a combination of British weather and last year’s legislation, which effectively prohibited smoking here in indoor public places, we have more motivation than ever before to quit. - This hypnotherapist is certainly having a busy time of it.
Nicotine is a highly addictive drug but, apart from the inconvenience of remaining hooked on the substance, it of course makes real sense to become an ex-smoker – even just for health reasons alone. Because cigarettes are generally sold at the places where kids also buy sweets, it is all too easy to overlook the fact that smoking kills about 300 people a day in the UK. This far outweighs the combined misery caused by hard drugs and alcohol abuse in this country. Still, many people will continue to puff away, because the difficulties of stopping appear greater to them than what they imagine to be the benefits of just continuing.
If you are perhaps now serious about coming off your tobacco habit, there are a number of issues you will probably need to deal with. You should, of course, learn to cope with stress without having to use cigarettes as a crutch. You should learn to overcome your nicotine cravings and to avoid being bad tempered. Further, you’ll need to work out how to cope with changing your habits – what to do with your hands; how to control your weight and how to still enjoy socialising.
Cigarettes, in themselves, are just the delivery mechanism for your drug of choice. It is really the nicotine contained in each smoke that you are addicted to. But an addiction is, in essence, a physical thing. Surprisingy, after just four days of not smoking, you are no longer physically addicted - although you may still have a psychological dependence that will cause you to believe otherwise. By definition, this dependence will be all in the mind, but that won’t necessarily lessen its hold, especially if you are unaware of its nature and its impact on you.
Dependence can make us believe that it is habit rather than addiction at the root of our smoking. It can stupidly get us to think that smoking is likely to reduce our stress levels (but of course non-smokers are no more stressed than smokers). It can cause us, at the same time, to be both afraid of failing and afraid of succeeding in our attempt to quit. Unbelievably, it can even make us think that forcing foul-smelling hot tar into our precious lungs gives some sort of meaning to our lives.
To make your resolution stick, you therefore need to not only overcome your withdrawal symptoms until the physical addiction has passed, but also work through your dependence until you are back in control. Most of all, you’ll need to have sufficient motivation to do these things, because if you wish to stop badly enough, there is really no doubt you will succeed.
Acupuncture, nicotine-replacement products, certain prescription substances and specialised counselling, all have their place, but NLP and Hypnotherapy can of course be particularly effective. Together, they will not only help you to overcome the physical withdrawal, but will also dramatically boost your motivation and help you to deal with your psychological dependence in the critical weeks and months that follow.
Just think. Once you’re finally free of the fags, you’ll have more money in your pocket; smell a whole lot better and even feel less guilty. You’ll also probably live a longer, healthier life and, just like a good credit card, you’ll be accepted everywhere.
Use this link to find out more about the one-on-one Stop Smoking Programme I run, or click here to make a time to come and see me.
