If you aren’t addicted to cigarettes would it be easy to quit smoking? If you are like most, the answer is yes!
So, are you Addicted to Cigarettes? Or is it a Habit!
So let’s define addiction. The type of addiction we want to talk about right now is the physical addiction, not the mental. We’ll deal with the mental aspects of addiction in a moment. For now, let’s just address the physical aspects of addiction. Who tells us that cigarettes are addictive?
Tobacco Companies
Tobacco companies lead us to believe that cigarettes are addictive, however we must share something with you: – thousands of people quit cigarettes every day, and not one of them experiences any kind of physical withdrawal symptoms that you would see in a normally addictive chemical such as cocaine or heroin. Again, by definition, when we refer to addiction, we’re talking about the physical malfunction that bodies go through when being deprived of a substance to which they have a dependency. No one’s body malfunctions when they stop smoking cigarettes. In fact, think about it, how long can you go without a cigarette?
Do you sleep at night? How many hours? Do you smoke in your sleep? No, of course not! People who are truly addicted to a chemical such as heroin or methamphetamines cannot sleep through the night. They have to get up to take a hit, just to go back to sleep. For most people who smoke cigarettes they can sleep without a cigarette during the night unless they are having a restless night or are worried.
What about a movie? If you go to a really good movie, you can sit through the entire show without a cigarette, yet most people don’t think they can go 2 hours without a cigarette. Doesn’t this make you wonder how addictive cigarettes really are?
How many addicts would say they can go without their drugs for hours or days? The same question could be asked of alcoholics. When examining the life of a smoker it can be demonstrated that cigarettes do not have the same addictive characteristics biologically that addictive drugs do.
Conspiracy Theories
Now, we’re not into conspiracy theories, but think about it, who benefits most by people thinking cigarettes are addictive? The cigarette manufacturers! Wouldn’t the best sales pitch in the world for any consumable product be, “If you start using these by age 12, you will smoke them for the rest of your life.” This does make you wonder about the future doesn’t it?
In fact, when we talk to people who become non smokers, the most severe physical problems we’ve ever had people tell us about is grumpiness and headaches. Let’s be honest about these so-called “symptoms.” Are they not simply irritations instead? Irritation and malfunction are not the same thing. These symptoms do not cause malfunction. They just cause discomfort… which is not a word used to describe the addictive withdrawals from any other truly addictive drug.
Book an Appointment and give Quit Smoking Hypnosis a try – make the decision to not only give you back your life but also your money!
Seeing a person on Heroin is not a pretty sight. For example, if the average heroin addict hasn’t had their regular fix, they will experience some terrible withdrawal symptoms such as sweats, shakes, heart palpitations, nausea, even hallucinations.
When was the last time you saw someone experience anything like that when they tried to quit cigarettes? They may become a little grumpy, or irritable but they don’t experience any of the physical symptoms that someone on methamphetamines gets.
Book an Appointment and give Quit Smoking Hypnosis a try – make the decision to not only give you back your life but also your money!
Second Hand Smoke
Most people have heard about people who contracted lung cancer from breathing in second hand smoke. The nicotine and chemicals were strong enough to kill them, but they weren’t strong enough to addict them. For years people breathed in the nicotine however it didn’t make them want to smoke.
Is it a Habit?
So if it isn’t a physical addiction, what is it? It’s a habit. Now it might sound a little trite to say it’s just a habit, but it’s probably one of the most powerful habits that exist.
When people wake up in the morning and have that first cigarette they are reinforcing the habit of smoking. Then 20 times during the course of the day (for an average smoker) they are reinforcing the habit of smoking. Every time the hand goes to the mouth, about 10 times with each cigarette; that’s about 200 times a day, they are reinforcing the habit. What else do we do 200 times a day? Maybe breathing or blinking.
So we’re looking at a very powerful, conditioned habit. And the only reason you are still doing it is because you are still doing it. And the only way to stop is to just stop. Cutting down doesn’t work. That’s like telling an alcoholic to cut down their drinking. They can do it for a while but it soon creeps back. So it is important that you want to quit once and for all.
Because it’s just a habit – then you can break it easily especially using hypnosis.
Book an Appointment and give Quit Smoking Hypnosis a try – make the decision to not only give you back your life but also your money!
So what are the treatment options?
We have things such as patches and gum. Would you believe that patches and gum provide a massive dose of nicotine? One day’s supply of nicotine patches is equivalent in nicotine terms to several packs of cigarettes. If that’s the case, how could anyone who is receiving more nicotine in their blood stream than they’ve ever had in their life, continues to smoke cigarettes?
So if you are wearing a patch, you’re receiving more nicotine in your blood stream than you’ve ever had in your life at one time. So why would anyone want a cigarette? It’s because it is not a nicotine addiction, if it were the patches would work. Physically they don’t work. My belief is that anyone who has stopped smoking due to patches has gone cold turkey and has used the patch as a psychological crutch to get them over the barrier. In fact Cambridge University released a research study in 2012 stating exactly this.
According to some of the research when people try to quit cigarettes just by using will power about 7% of people will stop, if you quit cigarettes using the gum about 10% of people will stop, an improvement but not much. If you quit smoking using patches then about 16% of people will stop, again an improvement but not great. If you look at those figures around the other way about 84 – 90% of people who try nicotine replacement therapy fail. That would indicate that it doesn’t work.
Book an Appointment and make the decision to not only give you back your life but also your money!
Now, let’s play a game, let’s pretend we are the world’s most successful hypnotherapist group. We have a 100% success ratio…we don’t, but it’s fun to pretend… everyone we work with becomes a non smoker with only one session. Do you think you would notice a void in your life?
You most assuredly will. Well, it’s possible that you won’t, however very few people become non smokers and completely forget about cigarettes instantly, with no void what so ever. Let’s take brushing your teeth – if you did that 200 times a day and suddenly stopped then you’d also notice a void and that’s just the same with all our habits.
Why are my Hands Fidgeting?
The funny thing is, when people experience the void in their life, they freak out and give false meaning to the void. They say, “Oh my Goodness! I’m noticing a void. That must mean I want a cigarette.” No, it just means you noticed the void. Don’t give it any more meaning than it deserves. In fact, if you do experience a void THAT MEANS quitting cigarettes with hypnosis is working! Think about it: If the hypnosis weren’t working, what would you automatically be doing? Right, smoking, but because the hypnosis is working, your unconscious mind now is not reaching for the cigarette and your conscious mind is catching up and wondering what it’s supposed to do.
Another thing that people experience is an increased desire to play with their hands, or they become fidgety. What’s funny is that they link up false meaning to the fidgeting. They say, “I want to do something with my hands. That must mean I want a cigarette.” No, it simply means that you want something to do with your hands. Don’t give it any more meaning than it deserves.
In fact, if you find yourself getting fidgety, THAT MEANS quitting smoking with hypnosis is working! Think about it: You can probably get a cigarette out of the pack, light it and put it in your mouth without even being consciously aware of it. Is this true? Right, so when your unconscious mind no longer wants to smoke, and it stops doing it, you consciously catch up with it and wonder what you are supposed to do with your hands instead. You see, as human beings, we are nervous creatures, and wanting something to do with our hands is not an exclusive trait to smokers. Non smokers do it too! So if you notice a void or want something to do with your hands, embrace those desires, but don’t give them false meanings. Simply appreciate how well the hypnosis is working, and find something else to do, okay?
So that means the problem with cigarettes is not the nicotine. The problem with cigarettes is the habit of smoking. For example, waking up in the morning and having that first cigarette at the same time then approximately 20 times during the day having a cigarette at those times; with a cup of coffee; after a meal; driving a car; when the phone rings. All those things become linked together as a mechanism which causes one to trigger another – so it’s just a habit that can be broken easily. So the question is, “Are you addicted to Nicotine?”
Book an Appointment and make the decision to not only give you back your life but also your money!