Hypnosis to Stop Smoking
Because smoking is not merely a physical addiction but a psychological one, traditional methods such as nicotine replacement and going cold turkey aren’t always successful. This is because they don’t properly treat the psychological part of the addiction. One approach to treating the mental roadblocks that pop up when attempting to give up smoking, is hypnosis.
Many people incorrectly assume that hypnosis involves going into some sort of frightful trance, where they have no idea or memory of what has gone on. They couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, hypnosis involves going to a place mentally where you feel extremely relaxed. This place is also known as the alpha state and is where one’s subconscious mind is able to take over. The subconscious mind is the place where memories are stored and can be manipulated to change behaviors.
A hypnotist, or any hypnotic recording, will speak to your subconscious mind and place thoughts that will encourage you not to smoke. Statements such as “Smoking is dangerous to my health” or “I have the power to immediately stop smoking,” are commonly used. In the process, the smoker will be conditioned to not to want to smoke.
Besides providing a fast way to stop smoking, hypnosis also has other noted benefits. It works to curtail and treat the most difficult hurdle to quitting smoking and that is the mental one. Even after the initial cravings and physical withdrawal symptoms have vanished, many people still fight the desire to quit smoking. Hypnosis helps by providing the smoker with the power to say “no” once and for all. Cravings for cigarettes disappear. Hypnotic suggestion, which will replace one’s current thoughts toward cigarettes, can lead individuals to a much healthier and smoke free future. However, it is important to note, that one must be ready to quit to have the best chance of being successful.
The American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association both believe in the effectiveness of hypnosis and answered “Yes’” to the question of whether hypnosis works on their website. Hypnosis is not a magic bullet, but can be effective for individuals who are committed to smoking cessation and are willing to go through the process necessary to quit.
