Every year, on 31 May, WHO (World Health Organisation) and partners mark World No Tobacco Day. The objective of observing World No Tobacco Day is to reduce tobacco consumption which can lead to deadly diseases like cancer and early death.
Did you know it costs £2920 if you smoke 20 a day for a year at £8 per packet? A high price to pay in monetary terms, but nothing compared to the high cost smoking claims upon your health each time you light up! Worldwide, Tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, of which, about 100,000 deaths are in the UK.1
Can YOU afford not to stop??
The HARD facts about smoking: It is generally recognised that smoking causes more preventable illness than any other form of drug addiction.2 Most smokers are well aware of the dangers of smoking but often ignore the facts. Here is a reminder:
· Half of all people who smoke will be killed by their habit. Every year about 100,000 smokers in the UK die from smoking related causes.
· About 30,000 people in the UK die from lung cancer each year. Having between 1 and 14 cigarettes a day increases your risk of getting lung cancer by as much as eight times. 1
· So far more than 4000 different substances have been identified in cigarette smoke. Around half of these substances are found in the tobacco itself, the rest are produced as the tobacco burns.
· Smokers under 40 have a five times greater risk of dying from a heart attack than non-smokers.
· Smoking tends to speed up the ageing process and smokers tend to develop more lines on their face at an earlier age than non-smokers.
· Fertility is reduced in smokers (both male and female).
Did you know, a long-term smoker, on average, has a life expectancy of about 10 years less than a non-smoker. Put it like this, in the UK about 8 in 10 non-smokers live past the age of 70, but only about half of long-term smokers live past 70. The younger you are when you start smoking, the more likely you are to smoke for longer and to die early from smoking.1
There is also the social acceptance or ‘non-acceptance’ of smoking to take into account. Smoking is becoming less socially acceptable. Today, almost all workplaces have some type of smoking rules. Some employers even prefer to hire non-smokers. Landlords may choose not to rent to smokers since maintenance costs and insurance rates may go up when smokers live in buildings. Resale values are lower on buildings, homes, and cars that smell like stale smoke.
Friends may ask you not to smoke in their homes or cars. Public buildings, concerts, and even sporting events are largely smoke-free. And more and more communities are restricting smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. Like it or not, finding a place to smoke can be a hassle.
Help is at hand. Stop smoking is easy for some people and arduous for others. An ex-smoker myself, I recall past attempts and feel the relief to live free of the urge to light up.
If you are thinking about stop smoking, then the World No Tobacco Day is a great time to break the chain and get healthy.
There are many ways of stopping smoking; you only have to watch the adverts on the TV to see different aids available such as patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and e-cigarettes which help to curb the cravings when giving up smoking. However, these aids only address the physical nature of the addiction. Researchers have shown that 90% of the addiction to smoking is psychological and so it is important to address this aspect to ensure you stop smoking for good.6 The habit of smoking is a subconscious response and many people find it a difficult habit to break. You may consciously want to give up smoking but unless your subconscious mind is ‘on-board’ then this is unlikely to happen. This is why Hypnotherapy can be so effective at helping you become and remain a Non Smoker – for good! Research published in ‘New Scientist’ magazine stated that “hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit, willpower, it turns out, counts for very little” (New Scientist Magazine, vol 136 issue 1845).
The benefits of not smoking begin straight away. You reduce your risk of getting serious disease no matter what age you give up. However, the sooner you stop, the greater the reduction in your risk and you increase your life expectancy and quality of life.
· 20 minutes: Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal.3
· 8 hours: Carbon monoxide and nicotine are eliminated from the body.
· 48 hours: Decline in lung function halts. Risk of lung cancer stops increasing and begins to decrease.
· 2 to 21 weeks: Circulation improves.4
· 3 To 9 months: Coughing and wheezing decline. Lung function increases by up to 10%.5
· 1 year: Risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.
You will also protect the health of those around you by not exposing them to second hand smoke or future smoking related illness. If you are planning a family, being a non-smoker will improve your fertility levels and your chance of a healthy pregnancy and baby. Being a non-smoker will also improve your breathing, general fitness and well-being. Can YOU afford not to stop??
The Hypnotherapy process:
Hypnotherapy works by uncovering the root cause to your smoking habit and the reasons you continue to smoke, it helps you to break down your links and triggers, manage cravings and find new ways to deal with stressful situations. During hypnosis, your subconscious listens to and takes ‘on-board’ the suggestions being made about breaking the smoking habit, the dangers of smoking, and how much better your life and health will be once you give up. Once your subconscious is aware of what you want at a conscious level it goes ‘all in’ helping you to achieve your goal of becoming a non-smoker. Hypnosis also helps to break the associations that you may have with smoking, such as having a cigarette with a cup of coffee, after a meal, with a pint etc, as well as helping to reduce your stress and anxiety levels which can often be a trigger for lighting up a cigarette!
It is worth bearing in mind though that your subconscious cannot be told to do something it doesn't want to do, so it's important that you do REALLY want to give up when you seek hypnotherapy for stopping smoking.
"Your desire to change must be greater than your desire to stay the same!" A typical hypnotherapy smoking cessation with Angela at Aspired Therapies consists of two separate 90 minute sessions, one week apart. During the first session, a consultation is carried out detailing your smoking and general lifestyle habits. How to cope with anxiety and stress will also be covered as well as a recap on the dangers of smoking and the health improvements which you will benefit from once you've stopped smoking. This consultation is followed by a unique and individually tailored hypnosis smoking cessation session one week later. During this session you will firstly be led into a relaxed state using guided visualisation, imagery and metaphors, followed by direct language about stopping smoking which will help you become and remain a non-smoker, for good.
Smokers often talk about it needing to be "the right time" to quit. But when is that? Chances are that if you are reading this you will have realised that this is your "right time". Don't miss your moment and contact Angela at Aspired Therapies now.
angela@aspiredtherapies.co.uk Telephone: 01597 850014 or 07967 298725
Angela Winterton Dip.Hyp, MHS, GQHP,GHR reg., NRH, Dip.CP,MCS Acc, Dip.SMC
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Psychotherapist, Aspired Therapies, www.aspiredtherapies.co.uk
References:
1 Dr Tim Kenny, Patient.co.uk
2 British Journal of Addiction, Volume 85, Issue 2, pages 293-300
3 (Effect of smoking on arterial stiffness and pulse pressure amplification, Mahmud A, Feely J. Hypertension. 2003:41:183)
4 (US Surgeon General’s Report, 1990, pp.193, 194,196, 285, 323)
5 (US Surgeon General’s Report, 1990, pp.193, 194,196, 285, 323) 6 American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2014. Atlanta, Ga. 2014