Stop Smoking in the New Year: Hypnotherapy Can Help

2020 was a tough year. Lots of people found it very hard to keep head above water since so many restrictions ruined all plans they had for the year. Many found themselves drinking or smoking more to help them cope with all the stress and drama that the Covid-19 caused.

The good news is that 2021 is finally on the horizon. The start of this fresh new year is a great time to set yourself some good goals and to kick some bad habits that you might have picked up while spending way too much time trapped at home.

Most people resolve to smoke when they feel stressed because nicotine has a temporary soothing effect on the mind. This is why, when in the moment, it can be easy for a smoker not to acknowledge the multitude of ways in which smoking can impact their health and life long-term. Right now is a great time to give up smoking and a great way to do this is with hypnotherapy.

Can Hypnotherapy Help You Stop Smoking

It may seem odd that hypnotherapy can possibly work so well to help you kick bad habits. After all, how can a mental treatment possibly help you overcome physical withdrawal symptoms? The truth is that giving up smoking requires more than just handling a few withdrawal symptoms.

Nicotine withdrawal does cause various symptoms such as cravings, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, irritability, anger, anxiety, depression, crying, increased hunger, and many others. These symptoms usually start a few hours after your first cigarette and are the strongest during the first week after quitting. These urges and feelings do however start to clear up after 1 week and can be completely gone in 2 – 4 weeks.

So all you need to do is tough it out for two or three week’s right? Well, it is not quite as simple.

Lots of people return to smoking habits a few months after quitting because those urges never seem to go away. Without hypnotherapy, you will still feel an urge to smoke whenever you get upset, feel bored, or become frustrated. These urges and frustrations are a psychological effect and not a physical withdrawal symptom. And this is exactly why a psychological treatment like hypnotherapy can help you kick those bad habits for good.

How Does Hypnotherapy Help You Quit Smoking?

Hypnotherapy can help suppress or remove cravings and reduces the intensity of withdrawal symptoms such as anger. This is because the hypnosis alters your mind’s response to smoking. Hypnosis involves tapping into your unconscious mind where learned behaviours are formed and repeated. In this deeply focused state it’s possible to bypass the cravings and mood swings, and unwanted appetite increase. You will feel more determined to give up smoking,  optimistic about your abilities to quit easily, and remain focused and persistent.

Hypnotherapy will change your perception of cigarettes in a negative way so you will resist picking up these bad habits in the future. Where you once viewed cigarettes as a release, you will come to view them as something that is not your problem, nothing to do with you.