The Mindful Therapist in Harley Street, London helps clients quit smoking cigarettes, vapes and weed.
You may have tried to quit smoking before with limited success. However, you’re not alone – nearly 90% of all smokers try to quit at least once but only 15% succeed.
With Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, however, the odds are in your favour – it’s been shown to raise your chances of quitting smoking successfully and is quicker than other methods. Here are some of the benefits of quitting, how it works and why it’s such an effective way to quit smoking once and for all.
What are the short term effects of quitting smoking?
Stopping smoking is one of the best things you will ever do. That's because smoking not only causes serious damage to your health, but drains your finances and general well-being.
Aside from the obvious health and financial benefits from quitting smoking it is useful to explore what the other benefits are:
Your sense of smell and taste will be heightened as they return to their normal levels prior to smoking.
Your clothes will lose the smell of stale smoke and your hair and breath will smell better with every day that passes.
Your health will improve dramatically from the moment you quit and continue, with research showing levels of risk for smoking related critical illnesses such as lung cancer can reduce by 50% in just five years after stopping smoking.
Set out below is a useful timeline showing the short term health improvement after quitting smoking *1
Within 20 minutes of stopping smoking
Blood pressure and heart rate return to normal.
After 8 hours
Oxygen levels in the blood return to their normal state and carbon monoxide levels to that of a healthy non-smoker.
Within 24 hours
Your chance of a heart attack decreases.
After 48 hours
Sense of smell and taste is enhanced.
72 hours
Increase in lung capacity and breathing becomes more relaxed ... your body is now free of nicotine.
Client Testimonial
“I am a 55 year old man man and been smoking weed for the past 40 years. I decided to stop. However, I didn't think there was any chance it would work. After the Hypnosis I immediately set about building a joint. Once I lit it up I started feeling nauseated. I had no desire to want to smoke. Two days later I attempted the same thing with the same results. Thank you Alex for achieving the impossible.”
What are the long term effects of quitting smoking?
The longer term effects of quitting include longer life expectancy, better overall health and well-being, less stress, better finances and more confidence. Additionally, all of these add to healthier relationships and an overall better outlook on life.
Being a non-smoker also means a lower risk for heart disease, lung cancer and cancer in general. Non-smokers have also been shown to be less likely to become obese.
The money saved on smoking can pay for other things like holidays or just paying off that credit card a little faster! Studies show smokers who quit are able to live anywhere from one year longer than those who continue smoking. This can mean more years of having fun with family, traveling and doing what you love! As well as saving money in additional ways!
Continuing our timeline with some mid to longer term improvements after quitting smoking*1
Between 1 - 9 weeks
Around one to nine weeks after becoming a non-smoker that familiar smoker’s cough and shortness of breath decreases. You will be able to exercise and simple activities like climbing the stairs will not leave you feeling winded.
Around 3 months
Improved circulation.
A 30% increase in lung function as they begin to repair themselves.
After 9 months
Lungs ability to clean themselves and remove mucus and handle infection increases.
1 Year
Rate of death from heart disease reduces to 50% of what it would be if you were a non-smoker.
6 Years
Rate of death from disease is the same as that of a non-smoker.
10 Years
Chance of contracting lung cancer drops almost to the rate of a non-smoker.
15 Years
Starting 15 years after quitting tobacco, your risk for heart disease is now the same as if you had never smoked.
Busting the myth that smoking helps you de-stress
As a smoker, you would probably agree that smoking has made you feel calm or relaxed at moments of stress or anxiety. Feeling calm is one of the most commonly reported subjective effects of smoking.
However, cigarettes and vapes cause the problem they promise to cure!
Just like coffee or cocaine, cigarette and vape smoke contain stimulants and cause us to become anxious. Cigarettes and vapes claim they are going to de-stress and relax you but nicotine actually increases anxiety - that’s the nicotine trick.
The smoker has a drag to calm their nerves and is okay for about 10 minutes, however, soon the nicotine withdrawal kicks in and they become even more stressed and nervous than before. The smoker lights up another cigarette or reaches for their vape to reduce stress again digging a deeper and deeper hole into a chemical addiction.
So, most importantly, we need to turn upside down the whole concept of smoking as a way to reduce stress. We need to understand
smoking = stress!
Nicotine is a stress drug. With every drag you are inhaling more and more anxiety into your bloodstream in the form of stimulants which trigger the release of adrenaline.
If we could see this clearly we would not even consider reaching for a cigarette when anxious, bored or self-conscious…. Who would say,”I'm really nervous about my meeting this afternoon… I need to suck some more stress into my body”.
Smoking cigarettes and vapes is not a good way of coping with stress - it’s like banging your head against a wall to cure a headache.
Smoking causes stress!
Research shows:
Smokers are generally more stressed
Smokers as a group suffer greater from mental health issues like depression and insomnia compared to non-smokers
When you stop smoking your mood is improved and anxiety is reduced
The improvement in mood and anxiety from becoming a non-smoker is chemically equivalent to taking antidepressants.
How much does it cost to smoke?
On 5 July 2022 Better Retailing reported that 89% of retailers charged £16.99 for a pack of cigarettes.
For somebody who smokes 20 cigarettes a day that comes to about £118.93 a week, £475.72 per month and £5,708 a year on average.
Over a ten year period that’s around £57,000. If you've had this habit for 40 years you will have spent £228,000 in your smoking career.
If you smoke 15 cigarettes a day it's still costing you around £89 per week, £356 per month and £4,281 per year.
Even if you're just a social/weekend smoker only having ‘a few on a Friday and Saturday night’ it's still costing you in the region of £5 a week, £20 a month, £240 a year, and around £3.360 over a 14 year period.
£20 a month on smoking?
It may not seem like a lot but there's plenty you can do with £20 a month. You could buy :
A monthly subscription to your favourite streaming service £15.99
A bestselling paperback £8.49
Self care products £15
The good news is that for the average cost of just two and a half weeks of smoking, you can become a healthy, happy non-smoker for good. Kick your habit and live smoke-free for the rest of your life.
Client Testimonial
"I can not recommend Alex and his services more. I tried so many different ways of giving up smoking and nothing helped me succeed except Alex’s method. His 7 step process is truly a life saver. The many attempts I made to quit and failing was beginning to really depress me. Alex’s method has worked from inside out rather than using a patch or tablet. His method did something to my mind which changed the way I think about myself and smoking. I can proudly say I haven’t touched, craved or touched a cigarette. It’s a distant memory. Thank you so much Alex. You truly have given me my life back." S.S. London - Google 5 Star Review
How Does It Work?
STOP IN-7 is a bespoke treatment plan designed to help you become a healthy, happy, non-smoker for life. This evidence-based approach is suitable for those who want to quit cigarettes, vapes or weed.
Hypnotherapy has been used over the years to help people stop smoking. However, virtually all modern evidence-based approaches to smoking cessation combine elements from a wide range of different therapies.
Therefore our Stop In-7 Smoking Cessation Treatment Plan combines Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness and Hypnotherapy, into a whole package.
This approach will give you the best chance to not only quit smoking on treatment day but more importantly make sure you stay a non-smoker.
At your stop smoking session will work through a combination of Cognitive Behavioural and Mindfulness techniques including education around smoking, skills training and coping strategies, ending the session with a powerful Hypnosis to reinforce our positive work at a deep, subconscious level. You will leave with all the tools you need to stay a healthy, happy non-smoker for life.
Most people who attend a stop smoking therapy session using hypnosis alone find it relatively easy to stop for the first few days. However, in the weeks following treatment, they are often left to their own devices and given very little support to manage this crucial stage, often resulting in relapse within a few weeks or months.
Stop In-7 has been specifically designed to not only focus on giving you the best chance to stop smoking immediately, but — more importantly — give you all the tools you need to to make sure you stay smoke free for the rest of your life.
Get in touch now with The Mindful Therapist, Harley Street, London to book your Stop Smoking session today.
Sources
1. American Cancer Society. Health benefits of quitting smoking over time.