Smoking Hypnosis

In_tuition

anyone tried any in Ireland, does it work is it a scam?

Looking for some feedback from people who have tried it out.

What should I expect?

Does it really work?

Cheers.

Dr Galen

we have a giving up smoking forum. Prob best asking over there OP

sportswear

one of my friends had it and it worked absolutely and completely. left and hasn't smoked a cigarette since. he swears by it.


personally, i wouldn't go near it, don't want anybody altering my brain thank you.

locum-motion

Moved from Health Sciences

dollyk

did not work for me , tried three times.

liberal

i might give it a go, been trying to give up 4 years

CityCentreMan

I tried hypnosis twice and it did not work for me. At the time of trying, I think that I probably was'nt in the right frame of mind and as such anything else would probably not have worked either. That said, I think that some people are more resistant to hypnotic suggestion than others.

As I understand it, hypnosis works by using hypnotic suggestion to convince the "sub-concious" brain that smoking is wrong, that stopping smoking will improve your life, make you feel better etc etc...

At the end of the session, the hypnotist normally gives you a tape / cd to listen to every day, the purpose being to use it to induce a short hypnotic / relaxation session which will reinforce the original message.

In my case, I was back smoking before I got to listen to the follow up tapes but I did find the tapes great if you have difficulty going to sleep.

The Alan Carr book / course "The Easy Way To give Up smoking", also works on the basis of convincing the "subconcious" brain but it goes beyond that. If I were back smoking again, I think that I would use a combination of Hypnosis & Alan Carr and I woul read the Alan Carr book before going to Hypnosis (a sort of belt & braces approach).

I put up a post on my experience of the Alan Carr approach a few days ago & I hope you dont mind me drepeating some of it here.....

"I smoked fairly heavily from the age of 13 to 43 when I gave them up. I am 48 now and thankfully I see no temptation at all to go back.

Before quitting, I tried unsuccessfully a number of times using various methods including willpower alone, hypnosis, nicotine chewing gum.

The combination that worked for me was :
a) Getting to the point of really really wanting to give them up;
b) Going on Alan Carrs - Easyway to give Up Smoking course;
c) Reading the Alan Carr book.
d) introduction of the smoking ban in pubs.

I asked my wife that year to enroll me on the Alan Carr course as my Christmas present.

The course was good but it was'nt a "Magic bullet". But in conjunction with the book, I eventually gave them up.

Having smoked for so long, I honestly had little memory of what it was like to spend a day without smoking. My memories of "Nicotine Deprivation" were limited to the agony of translantic flights & associated withdrawal that that entailed. My brain, both concious & subconcious were horrified at the prospect of never never being able to enjoy a cigerette ever again.

What I liked about Alan Carr's method was that it gave me a different perspective in that smoking was'nt something that I was giving up but rather, it was a hell / prison from which I was escaping.

Effectively it is almost like a "Positive Brain Washing" experience which counteracts all of the Negative Brainwashing that we recieve throughout our smoking career. By Negative Brainwashing I mean:
a) Advertising;
b) Sponsorship;
c) Cool portrayal of smokers on TV, Media;
d) The conflicting advice from other smokers who (to children & non-smokers) advise against smoking but still continue to do so themselves (and appear to enjoy themselves)
e) The advice that giving up is very very difficult & that tremendous willpower is required.

The approach starts off not by trying to persuade you to stop but rather it forces you to question why you ever started in the first place and what is it about smoking that could possibly cause you to want to continue.

Does it make you live longer?
Does it make you more attractive to the opposite sex?
Does it make you smell better?
Is it going to make you rich?
In terms of enjoyment how does it compare with sex?
etc etc etc

It also makes you question your apparant "enjoyment" of those cigerettes that everyone really enjoys or thinks that they do...

With coffee after a big meal;
After sex;
First thing in the morning;
After a flight...

But you are forced to realize that the reasons that these are enjoyable is simply and only because these follow a long period of "deprivation" and your body, in its nicotine addicted state, is screaming at you to give it some nicotine. As such the perceived enjoyment is'nt like sex it is just the relief felt by a junkie getting his / her fix.

Having established that smoking is totally illogical & that the only reason that you smoke is because of the physical addiction he then moves on to outline and to get you to convince yourself of the benefits of stopping:

1) I was spending about EU100 / week (which cost has now been offset by 2 kids so i am not any richer anyway!)
2) Cheaper life insurance;
3) Wheeze gone
4) Fitter;
5) Wife says I smell better;
6) Hopefully will longer;
7) Less likely to get cancer
etc etc

The AC method also goes a long way to addressing the myth that smoking is so so hard to "give up". The physical addiction, in reality lasts only about 3 - 4 weeks and effectively the stregth of it is further reduced each day.

It is the mental addiction which I had always found hard to deal with and this is the part that Alan Carr addresses so well. When you have convinced yourself that:

a) There are no good logical reasons to continue;
b) Smoking has no benefits whatsoever;
c) Giving up has loads & loads of benefits;
d) Giving up is going to be a lot easier than everyone make out.

Then your brain, both concious & subconcious, is faced with a dilemna that makes it difficult to continue. at that point, the only issue to be addressed is the physical addiction and to be honest - its not that bad.

The Alan Carr book, "The Easy Way to Give Up smoking" will cost you less than the price of 2 packets of cigerettes. I would honestly recommend it to you as being a no-lose option.

It is a sad reflection of the dangers of smoking that Alan Carr himself left it too late and he died of lung cancer. I hope that I did'nt leave it too late and that you dont either.

I have been free from smoking now for 5 years and my most frequent nightmare is that I wake up all blocked up & back smoking again"

If I ever found myself smoking again I would do everything possible to get off them and would probably combine hypnosis to reinforce the Alan Carr type of message.

Best of Luck!!!