To avoid having to quit smoking, it is better to never start. But what if you have started and have already been a smoker for a long time? I want to quit, but oh how difficult it is. You constantly promise yourself: “Only five cigarettes a day, that’s all.” Starting next month I will quit completely. I can, only a little later.”
It takes enormous willpower to quit smoking. But there is strength, but no will. And all these pills, patches, aerosols and grandmother’s conspiracies do not help. Because they act only on the physical level (if they act at all), and the point here is different - in the psyche or, as they say, in the brain.
To stop smoking you don’t just need to want to quit, you need to not want to smoke. Rebuild your thinking so that the bad habit no longer has any power over you. Ideally, the hand does not naturally reach for a cigarette pack, tobacco smoke causes disgust, and the thought “what a fool I used to be” is firmly rooted in the mind.
And if scientists have not yet come up with a magic pill for smoking, then why not try a method that doctors and psychotherapists have been using for their own purposes a long time ago? Hypnosis. On your own or with the help of a specialist, learn to think, feel in a new way and get rid of addiction forever.
Is it possible to quit smoking with hypnosis?
Let's start with the fact that only the Lord God can give a 100% guarantee of success. However, like everything else in our world. A positive result will occur if three conditions come together: the smoker’s desire to quit, his belief in success, and the hypnologist turns out to be an experienced specialist and not a charlatan.
Additionally, not all people are equally susceptible to hypnosis. Poorly amenable to hypnotic suggestion:
- emotionally cold people;
- people with profound mental retardation;
- patients suffering from complex mental illnesses.
For hypnosis to be effective, a person must understand what is happening to him. When someone who wants to quit smoking is under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or psychotropic drugs, there is no need to talk about achieving a positive result.
What does a person expect when he quits smoking?
The man smoked for many years. Of course, he already understood that smoking is a bad habit. And then the doctor said that if you don’t quit, your heart will not hold up or your lungs will fail, or the implant cannot be placed. And so the man decided that it was time to seriously quit smoking.
The person understands that it may not be easy at first. But, after all, he stops constantly poisoning his body. And the body, in the end, must respond with gratitude. A person expects easier breathing, a lift in mood, and a surge of strength.
Mechanism of hypnotic influence
Do you know the state between sleep and reality? The body is relaxed, the brain is open, you seem to still feel reality, but you are ready to plunge into the arms of Morpheus. We are in such half-asleep every day when we go to the side. It is in this state that a person becomes susceptible and suggestible on a subconscious level. This is the main essence of hypnotic influence. The specialist, using his voice, gradually puts the person into a trance. At the same time, some areas of the brain respond successfully in real life - the person hears the voice of the hypnologist, follows his commands, and answers the questions posed.
The session begins with the first stage of hypnotic sleep, during which physical sensitivity and reaction to what is happening around is maintained. It seems to a person that thoughts, sounds, and time slow down. I hear everything, but I’m reluctant to react - for most it looks something like this. For some, the first stage is enough to quit smoking. Others have to be plunged into the deeper depths of the subconscious. It all depends on the suggestibility of a person.
Why can’t one instill an aversion to smoking in a normal state without putting a person into a trance? You can try. Some even try. Only a few perceive this. The human psyche is a cunning and flexible thing. They paint scary pictures on cigarette packs, and they constantly broadcast on television about the dangers of tobacco. And what? Almost nothing. The smoker's consciousness will find a way not to perceive or circumvent the information received. Something like – this doesn’t apply to me, or – I’ll think about it later.
Statistics on smoking in Russia
In Russia, the fight against smoking has been going on for several years. The government, seriously concerned about the health of citizens, began to pass laws that were supposed to reduce the number of smokers. Cigarettes have become more expensive, additional warnings about the dangers of smoking with scary pictures appeared on packs, and the number of places allowed for smoking has been significantly reduced.
Nevertheless, in our country approximately every fourth Russian smokes
, and
about 400 thousand people die from smoking every year
.
According to statistics, teenagers try smoking for the first time at the age of 13-15
, and by the age of 17, smoking becomes a habit. There are still more men among smokers, but the proportion of women who smoke is gradually increasing, and this is alarming, since women develop nicotine addiction faster and find it more difficult to get rid of it.
For a while or forever
Will hypnosis help you quit smoking forever? If you want, yes, it will help. If you really want to, you can refuse it yourself. Replace the pleasure you get during smoking breaks with something more pleasant and less harmful. The main thing is to keep your hands and brains busy with something all the time. Because the greatest desire to smoke occurs when a person is nervous or when he has nothing to do.
Unfortunately, there are no comprehensive statistics on this issue. It's a pity. It would be interesting to know which method helps and how much: how many people completely quit smoking, who couldn’t resist and started again, and what percentage of the total number of those who applied was not affected by hypnosis at all. In reality, you have to rely on reviews from smokers, advertising, or the experiences of friends.
What happens if a person quits smoking?
Chart of changes in a smoker's condition when quitting cigarettes
The blue line shows the change in a person's condition while he was smoking. Discomfort makes you smoke a cigarette. The condition improves, and then gradually worsens again - the line drops below zero. And an hour later the person again compensates for the discomfort with a new cigarette. It turns out a sinusoid.
And so the man quit smoking.
At first he is full of self-confidence and expects to improve in a couple of days (blue dotted line).
But very quickly the state of discomfort begins to prevail (red line). There is no improvement, as we said. And even if it comes, it is replaced by an even deeper crisis.
The brain, deceived by addiction, finds a reason why it needs to start smoking again (on the graph there is a flash of breakdown in crisis 3).
Hypnosis against smoking: types, methods, techniques
People are all different. Some are 100% visual, while others perceive and process most information through hearing. For one smoker, one or two sessions of hypnosis are enough, and he will never smoke again. The subconscious of the other will resist to the last, and the psychotherapist-hypnotist will need several months to understand and eliminate the cause of the addiction.
If we consider the problem, there are not so many ways to influence smokers. Most techniques are based on strong emotions - fear or disgust. They work effectively for some people, which means they have a right to exist. This is a kind of coding against addiction.
Individual or group sessions with a hypnotherapist are often based on a different principle. While the smoker “floats in nirvana,” the hypnologist finds out the causes of addiction and forms a different attitude towards tobacco. The place of the association “smoking - relaxing” is taken by another - “cigarette is evil”.
Hypnosis techniques against smoking: which is better
It is difficult to decide for someone what is better. Everyone should choose a method according to themselves, their character and ability to communicate with people.
The basis of success is the trust of the person who wants to quit smoking in the psychotherapist or his method. If trust does not arise, the venture is doomed to failure!
Audio hypnosis - listening to a recording at home. The method does not involve personal contact with the hypnotherapist. Suitable for people who have little free time or who for some reason do not want to be alone with a hypnotist. The person chooses the right time for himself, turns on the recordings and plunges into a light trance. The session lasts 30-40 minutes.
The effectiveness of this method is influenced by the hypnotist’s voice, intonation, and timbre.
has a more severe effect on the conscious and subconscious mind . It's like a horror movie, only worse. Because it demonstrates reality. The videos show what catastrophic consequences nicotine addiction can lead to.
For impressionable women with weak psyches and problems with the cardiovascular system, it is better to choose a different method of getting rid of addiction.
How to withstand the withdrawal period and not break down?
Two powerful tips:
By understanding the mechanism of how addiction works, it will be much easier for you to endure the crises of the withdrawal period. But we will offer 2 more powerful tips
Imagine your addiction as someone unpleasant.
For example, a very unpleasant slug that controls you with invisible threads. And in the most difficult moments, fight this unpleasant guy, prove that you are stronger!
Keep an anti-addiction diary
Turn your despair into an entry in this journal.
Keeping a diary of the withdrawal period allows you to:
- do not fall into the trap of “rationalization of consciousness” - substituting reasons for why you want to smoke;
- record the dynamics of the state during the period of withdrawal, realize when the deepest hole will be overcome and improvement will begin;
- count how many days you have left to endure.
Methods that work for results
There are many methods of hypnosis against smoking, in contrast to methods of influencing the subconscious. Most of them are based on audio hypnosis. The smoker is offered to listen to messages in various variations and with different frequency, which help to develop a negative attitude towards smoking.
Method of psychotherapist Victor Guzhagin
It was developed by a psychiatrist with extensive medical practice.
The method consists of two courses of 14 days each, with a week's break between them. There are sixteen audio lectures to listen to. On the first and last day of the course, there are two lectures at once. Entries must be placed in the order recommended by the author.
The technique does not work instantly. But, despite this (or maybe because of this), the method has proven itself well.
Suggestion and self-hypnosis of the physiologist Shichko
A simple method, but still showing results. A person’s attention is correctly focused on the fact that he has a problem, which he has denied for a long period. Next, the smoker is asked to mentally return to the past, remember and analyze the actions with the cigarette. That is, how it was and how it could be.
The basis of the method is the mandatory keeping of a diary for at least six months. In the evening, a person describes the events of the past day, looks at himself from the outside and gradually removes the bad habit program. During the recovery process, he is led “by the hand” by an instructor who tries to prevent a possible breakdown.
Quitting smoking according to Paul McKenna
The English hypnotherapist prefers to act by persuasion. His system helps get rid of the fear of living without smoking. It will be strange for people who have managed to avoid the addiction to hear that most smokers are afraid of life without cigarettes. They are convinced that it will be impossible to fully relax without nicotine.
In his method, McKenna evokes positive emotional memories from patients' lives before smoking. During a hypnotic session, he pulls them to the surface of consciousness and makes them the basis of the desire to give up the bad habit.
Causes and signs of nicotine addiction
The number of people who smoke in the world exceeds 1 billion. About 50% of them are children and teenagers.
The main reasons for smoking at an early age are the desire to imitate elders, appear more mature and not look like a black sheep in the company of friends. In the first few days of use, nicotine causes nausea, headache, and dizziness. About 6% of people quit smoking at this stage due to discomfort. Over time, they disappear, and nicotine addiction occurs. For its development, 1-2 weeks of use are enough.
Nicotine enters the bloodstream within seconds of administration and acts faster than an intravenous drug. The substance stimulates the production of dopamine, endorphin and the release of adrenaline. As a result, the smoker feels euphoria and high spirits. Over time, cigarettes become a method of coping with stressful situations.
The main reasons for smoking are:
- need for psychological stimulation. Nicotine increases brain activity in the short term, which is why smoking is common among students and those with mentally stressful jobs;
- substitution Nicotine suppresses appetite, which is why some people smoke to avoid feeling hungry. Flavored cigarettes with flavoring additives also stimulate passion for the smoking process;
- difficulty in communication. Smoking during a break at work helps to relax and improve relationships with colleagues;
- stressful situation. Nicotine provides short-term calm and improves mood;
- smoking environment. Constant passive smoking stimulates the desire to try;
- Aesthetic pleasure. Many people are sure that smoking is beautiful. As a rule, they rarely do this for demonstrative purposes;
- imitation. In families where parents smoke, the likelihood of nicotine addiction in children is several times higher;
- alcohol consumption. Alcohol stimulates nicotine hunger and increases the desire to smoke several times;
- the need to calm down. This habit comes from childhood. Just as a child calms down with a pacifier in his mouth, a smoker stops worrying with a cigarette. A person gets pleasure and peace from the process itself, and not from the effects of nicotine on the body.
A person who smokes has a characteristic bad breath and darkened skin on the fingers with which he holds a cigarette. Over time, a smoker's teeth turn yellow and decay. Constant shortness of breath and tachycardia appear. A person suffocates when climbing to the second floor or when walking quickly.
In most cases, nicotine addiction can be avoided by simply refusing the cigarette offered. Health is more valuable than the respect of dubious acquaintances. It is easier to prevent any disease than to treat it. According to statistics, only 4-6% of smokers quit the bad habit on their own. In other cases, the help of a doctor and special treatment are required.
Indications and contraindications for hypnosis
As mentioned above, treatment of smoking with hypnotherapy is contraindicated for people with severe mental retardation and serious mental illness. Firstly, they will not understand the messages sent in their direction, and secondly, due to their characteristics, they will not be able to follow the instructions of the hypnologist.
Hypnosis sessions cannot be conducted for people under the influence of alcohol, psychotropic drugs, or drugs. Experts know this. People who are trying to quit smoking on their own need to remember this.
A tendency to hysterics, depression, and panic attacks is a contraindication to watching videos of hypnosis sessions.
In other cases, hypnotherapy will only bring benefits. By influencing the underlying problem, hypnosis has a positive effect on the entire body as a whole. Neuroses disappear, sleep quality improves, headaches go away, the heart begins to function better, and blood pressure normalizes. All this is possible if the sessions are conducted by a good hypnologist.
What people say
The opinions of people who have experienced hypnotic influence in the struggle for a healthy lifestyle are very contradictory. It helped some, some are still in the process of recovery. There are also those who did not feel the positive effect.
Here is a small selection of objective (and sometimes subjective) reviews.
Galina
For the last 33 years I haven’t let go of a cigarette. In my youth I smoked Prima and Astra, then switched to filter cigarettes. I started looking for a way out of the situation when my body started to fail. But still I couldn’t get less than a pack a day. I attended several audio hypnosis courses. And she did this when she most wanted to smoke. I didn't quit completely. But now I only take up a cigarette after eating. Enough 3-4 pieces per day.
Victor
Your hypnosis is pumping out money. If I want to quit, I'll quit myself. I haven’t tried it, I won’t try it and I won’t recommend it to my friends.
Evgeniya
I really want to quit, but I can’t yet. As soon as I start to freak out, my hand reaches for the pack. I tried not to buy it, but I’ll still go and ask my neighbors. The video course didn’t help, or rather, I almost didn’t watch it. It became disgusting, scary and turned off. But I want to quit. Maybe someone can recommend a normal hypnologist to really help. And not too expensive.
Kate
But it helped me, although maybe I’m suggestible. I listened to the recordings before bed for two weeks. In the end I even fell asleep without finishing listening. I have had no desire to smoke for over a year now.
Andrey
I am in favor of working directly with a hypnotist. You can immediately see who is helping and who is not. We had five people at the sessions. Let's call back now. Four of us in our group no longer smoke. And the fifth one periodically breaks down.
As you can see, the opinions are completely different. Based on the reviews, we can conclude that two components are important - desire and a good specialist. Another question is where to find such a specialist.
How to distinguish professionals from charlatans
Fraudsters are found everywhere, in all areas of our lives. It’s especially offensive when they act under someone else’s guise and discredit really good things, services, methods.
How do our people usually look for a good hypnotist? Type “hypnotherapist” and the name of the locality into the search bar. And then they act according to the template - they scan the first 4-5 sentences and choose what they like best. The price of services often plays a role - the desire to save money is in the blood of our people.
What's next? Then the lottery begins - lucky/unlucky. You can do it this way too. No one has ever canceled their luck. But, having run into scammers, you will only have to complain about yourself.
You can find a professional, respectable hypnotherapist on the Internet if you learn a few simple truths:
- Only doctors and psychologists have the right to conduct hypnotherapy sessions. In order to instill the right messages in a patient, they, at a minimum, need to have knowledge about the workings of the human psyche. You can’t learn this at home, on the couch. Therefore, a hypnologist must have a document on special education.
- It is advisable to focus not only on reviews published on the Internet, but also on the opinions of familiar doctors. They usually have extensive connections, and recommending a good specialist will not be difficult for them.
- You can go to a thematic group “quitting smoking”. Just not at once. Chat there for a few days and you will learn a lot of useful information.
- Go to the hypnotherapist's website. It’s good if there are feature articles, videos, photographs.
- If you live in the same city, visit the hypnotist in person. Make an appointment in advance by telephone. The person should be pleasant to you on an energetic level. During the communication process, it is not difficult to understand whether this specialist can solve your problem or whether you need to continue searching.
You need to quit smoking. If you can’t do it yourself, then why not use the services of a hypnotherapist? There is no need to be afraid of them. No one is going to turn you into a zombie, find out your secrets and control your actions while you are in a trance state. Most hypnologists are good specialists who really help people. All that remains is to correctly configure the filters and filter out unwanted elements.
Finding motivation to quit smoking
Motivation is the most effective and correct solution that allows you to achieve a positive result in absolutely any business.
The fight against smoking is no exception. Before fighting a bad habit, every smoker must decide on a key motivation that will shine as a guiding star throughout his difficult journey. It is very important for health to quit smoking; the pros and cons of this struggle will be discussed further.
The main motivating postulates include the following positive advantages of living without smoking:
Increase in life expectancy by an average of 10 years
Harmful substances contained in tobacco products have a negative impact on human health. Numerous studies indicate that the life of a smoker is on average 10 years shorter than that of a non-smoker.
Did you really think you were smoking tobacco?
Harmful substances contained in tobacco products
If a person has been abusing nicotine for more than 20 years, then there is a high probability that he is at risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This can be easily verified using IR.
IC is a smoker’s index, which can be calculated using the formula:
IR = KS*SK/20
Where:
- IR smoker index;
- KS is the number of cigarettes a person smokes in 24 hours;
- SK - smoking experience (in years);
- If IC > 10, then the person is at high risk of developing COPD.
- Fresh and healthy appearance
- Appearance of a smoker
- Improving intimate life
- Good and healthy sleep
- Reducing the risk of heart attack or psoriasis
- Financial savings
- Caring for loved ones and loved ones
- Improving quality of life
- Life is Beautiful
Smoking has a negative impact on a person's appearance.
Smoking has a negative impact on a person's appearance. The addiction causes a decrease in the level of oxygen in the blood, and the presence of nicotine blocks the production of collagen, as a result of which the skin becomes flabby and dull, and wrinkles are 5-6 times more noticeable. Due to oxygen deficiency, hair looks weakened and begins to fall out. The teeth acquire an unpleasant yellow tint, which over time turns into tartar.
Sex and smoking are completely incompatible concepts. The results of the study on this issue indicate that some smokers are dissatisfied with their intimate life. Men who are not addicted to smoking can have sex longer, and the sensations during sexual intercourse are brighter and more intense. The risk of developing impotence in a smoking man is 60 times higher.
Insomnia is often the “friend” of a smoker. Nicotine forces the heart to work harder, causing an increase in blood pressure, and this, thereby, prevents you from sleeping soundly and getting proper rest. People whose smoking experience exceeds 10-15 years may wake up on purpose in the middle of the night just to quench their body’s thirst for nicotine.
Smoking is one of the main enemies of the cardiovascular system. When you inhale smoke, vasoconstriction occurs in the body, which leads to a deterioration in blood supply. In addition, smoking leads to the formation of blood clots. Taking a drag on a cigarette, a person provokes the release of adrenaline into the blood, and therefore, active contraction of the muscular walls of the arteries begins, an increase in pressure and an increase in heart rate.
The immune system also suffers. Therefore, there is a high risk of developing psoriasis.
Diseases caused by smoking
It is not at all difficult to calculate how much money a smoker spends on packs of cigarettes per month. If the cost of one pack is on average 70 rubles, and a person smokes 1 pack per day, then the annual consumption is 25,200 rubles. It turns out that smokers themselves pay for the appearance of diseases.
Close people of a smoker are always at risk. Being passive smokers, they are exposed to inhaled cigarette smoke. At the same time, they receive no less harm. Therefore, when quitting smoking, a person takes care not only of himself, but also of loved ones.
Non-smokers perceive the world around them much better and more clearly. “How can I quit smoking if cigarettes calm me down? “Many nicotine addicts think this way. Cigarettes, which are often given the role of sedatives for stress, do not solve problems with it, but, on the contrary, only aggravate them.
Non-smokers perceive the world around them much better and more clearly.
Starting to work on himself and his habits, each person finds his own individual incentive to quit smoking, thanks to which he can move forward to victory. Therefore, the choice of driving force must be conscious and thoughtful.
What are the disadvantages of the fight against smoking? There is none of them. The temporary test of willpower may dampen the mood a little, but the results are worth the patience.
