smoking
I was listening to Radio Norfolk yesterday about an initiative to help young people to stop smoking. Young people are not interested in the risks of smoking unfortunately because we probably all have felt invincible at times. It’s only when we get older we start to worry about the effects of any damaging things we have done to ourselves.
What concerned me most though was there seemed to be conflicting advice about what GPs are telling patients. Some said if pregnant women felt anxious about stopping smoking they should continue. This advice seemed to be ridiculous. What doctor in their right mind would suggest that a patient would continue to smoke because they are anxious?
It’s true that for some people they are already anxious and the thought of stopping their addiction feels really scary for them. There is a drug people can take but some of the side effects are depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Great! Just what you need when you stop smoking. There was no mention on the radio about hypnosis helping so many people to stop and stay stopped.
Hypnosis works at an unconscious level, and helps the person re-train their thought processes. It is safe, with no side effects other than feeling calm and relaxed. It’s not available on the NHS, but when you consider how much a smoker spends setting fire to their money, private hypnotherapy sessions is little to pay when they don’t have to spend that money again.
I once saw a pregnant lady who said she would like to stop smoking but was anxious about it. I mentioned in hypnosis that her baby did not have a choice to smoke or not. That really resonated with her, and she stopped immediately and has never smoked since, despite leading a rather stressful life with a large family.
As an ex-smoker from many years back, and knowing how addicted you can feel about it, I can really sympathise with smokers, but with some help and support, you can kick the weed completely.