What could possibly be good about being addicted to cigarettes?
Recent studies show half of all long-term smokers die from tobacco related
causes. What’s worse is that the quality of their life in those last years
may make them almost wish they were dead. Fatal respiratory diseases like
emphysema make each breath an effort. It limits a person’s freedom
to the end of an oxygen tank as the person is literally being slowly
suffocated to death. Cancer is not a particularly pleasant way to die
either. Often the treatments used seem worse than the disease itself.
Chemotherapy is a fancy word for taking enough poison to kill the cancer,
but not enough to kill you. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments make you
feel sick. You lose your hair. But you may prolong your life and you are
grateful for that. And strokes? Lying immobile while life goes on around you
hardly seems like good news.
Nothing good to report for smokers of light or even filtered cigarette
smokers. Turns out the filter doesn’t do much of anything except get you to
inhale some filter fibers and a host of gases released when plastic burns.
It is also not good to hear that today’s cigarettes are more addictive than
ever. By adding chemicals like ammonia the manufacturers amplify the effects
of nicotine, the main addictive substance in cigarettes, "Ammonia," you say?
"You mean that nasty ultra-strong household cleanser that cuts through
grease and grim but whose aroma makes you choke and your eyes water as takes
your breath away? The one you need gloves so you don’t burn your hands when
you use it?" Yep. The very same. It seems that chemicals like ammonia
increase the speed at which nicotine gets to the brain. This is important to
the tobacco pushers…er…. I mean tobacco companies because the faster the
nicotine gets to the brain the more addictive its effect. Today’s cigarettes
give you a nicotine jolt less than 7 seconds after you inhale and that
includes the so-called low tar and nicotine cigarettes. Nicotine is the
active ingredient that holds smokers captive. It is the reason that 90% of
people who smoke would like to quit but feel somehow that they can’t.
The cost in dollars and cents isn’t worth celebrating either. The price of
cigarettes isn’t going down. Today, a pack of regular brand name cigarettes
costs about $8.00 in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. No pack-a-day smoker is
going to cheer when they hear that they are only spending about $3,000 a
year in after-tax dollars for their Marlboros. Especially when they do the
math and figure out that means they need $5,000 or so in extra annual income
to be able to support their habit
It is also not good news that the Rhode Island now has the 3rd highest
cigarette tax in the nation at $1.00 a pack. Even Massachusetts’ cigarette
tax is only $.76 a pack. Compare this to a tobaccoland state like
Virginia where the cigarette tax is only $.025 a pack.
HERE IS A LINK THAT SHOWS HOW MUCH MONEY YOU'LL ACTUALLY SAVE: www.quitmeter.com
Also, it is hardly good news or a surprise that there are no plans to change
the non-smoking policy at most companies either. That means smokers will
still have to smoke outside in all kinds of weather and endure the
judgmental stares of former smokers as they go in and out of the building.
Nor is it good news to know that people who love smokers are showing no sign
of stopping their well-intentioned nagging. The morning cough and chest pain
isn’t going anywhere either. Cigarette smokers can still expect to
experience the chronic low energy many of them complain about or the
increased anxiety and nervousness And, sadly, cigarette smoking will
continue to age women and men by removing the youthful glow of their skin
and hair.
The fact that most people who successfully quit fail seven times before they
succeed doesn’t qualify as good news either. It is amazing to think that 90%
of serious attempts to quit cigarettes fail and that the only way some
smokers can quit is by dying.
So
what is the good news?
The good news is that if you are currently a smoker and choose to quit, you
will improve virtually every aspect of your life
with one simple act.
And I do not mean this sarcastically. As a non-smoker myself, I am almost
envious of the dramatic re-birth available to every smoker simply by doing
what I did many years ago: stop smoking cigarettes once and forever.
It is nothing less than a rebirth of body, mind and spirit.
As a hypnotherapist I help smokers become non-smokers everyday. The
transformation is one of the most dramatic uses of hypnosis in my practice
and a joy to watch.
Think about it. With one single decision, you will:
a) make a major improvement in your health overnight
b) increase your stamina and energy
c) reduce your anxiety
d) increase your self-esteem by freeing yourself from slavery
to a substance
e) make the people who love you happy
f) set a good example for kids
g) improve the way you smell
to others (maybe even get kissed more often)
h) save lots of money
I) reduce or eliminate winter colds
j) lower your insurance premiums
k) escape from the unfortunate social stigma that smokers live under
l) add more time to your life
k) increase your productivity.
All of these benefits and more can be yours if you are a smoker who stops
smoking.
More good news. There is a foolproof way to stop smoking. It works everytime.
Become a non-smoker.
I
don't mean to be glib or minimize the struggle many people go through.
But others find it relatively easy. Most people who try to quit smoking each
year fail because they have not fully committed themselves. They attach
conditions to their freedom from cigarettes. They try to stop smoking having
already decided at some level that there are circumstances under which they
know they would go back to smoking.
These include too much weight gain, feeling miserable without cigarettes,
making people in their lives miserable with bursts of temper, emotional
problems ranging from work issues to a death in the family, tense social
situations. Some people are only giving themselves a break from cigarettes
to make themselves feel better or for some special reason. I am always
amazed at women who stop smoking when pregnant only to return to smoking
after the baby is born. Why don’t they just continue to enjoy the benefits
of being a nonsmoker? Perhaps because they didn’t want to quit in the first
place. They felt they had to quit for their baby's wellbeing. When the
reason to not smoke disappeared so did their desire to be smoke free. They
are smokers who are just temporarily not smoking. If they were totally
honest with themselves many would realize that they had always knew they
would go back to cigarettes. It was just a question of when.
The successful quitter has no such reservations. He or she decides that they
are not going to smoke again no matter what. And that is exactly what they
do. And here is more good news:
Hypnosis will improve
your chance of success 1,000%
The
benefit of hypnosis in stopping smoking ranges from the truly remarkable to
just making the process easier. Occasionally, hypnosis will
totally remove the desire to smoke permanently. The client often leaves the
office almost as though he or she had never smoked without withdrawal
symptoms. I would say this occurs in 20% of my clients and it is a wonderful
thing to behold. About 25% of my clients find that they have absolutely no
desire to smoke for several days to a week or more with few if any
withdrawal symptoms.
If
some desire does return they have gotten well past the initial stages and
usually find it easy to succeed as a nonsmoker. The rest find that their
desire to smoke is dramatically decreased though still occasionally present.
However, they have been hypnotically programmed to have a firm commitment
not to smoke no matter what.
I
kept the very best news for last. The best news is that within 10 years you
will have virtually erased any damage that smoking caused, regardless of how
much you smoked. Your risk of death by the diseases cigarettes cause will be
almost equal to those of people who never smoked. What’s more the changes
begin almost immediately. Within a month or so you
will notice a definite difference in your breathing and energy levels.
Literally the day after you quit the carbon monoxide levels in your blood
will approach normal levels. That means you will be distributing more oxygen
to your body immediately.
Also, there is no best set of life conditions to become a nonsmoker. Most
often smokers just use "I will wait until" strategy as an excuse to postpone
quitting. That means you don’t have to wait until you are relaxed on
vacation to quit.. Also there is no advantage to putting quitting off till
after your vacation is over. You don’t have to put off quitting to a slack
time at work with less pressure or wait until are very busy at work so you
don’t have time to think about cigarettes depending on your preference.
There is no need to wait till National Smokeout Day, your next birthday;
New Year’s Day, your anniversary, the cold weather or the warm weather. It
doesn’t matter what is going on in your life. You can still succeed.
There is a best time to quit though. Now…………….
Are you addicted to
cigarettes?
It’s easy to find out. Ask yourself the following questions.
Do you smoke more now than when you first started?
Do you have symptoms such as nervousness, bad temper or a strong craving for
a cigarette when you stop smoking?
Do you notice that you sometimes smoke more than you intend?
Do you wish you could stop smoking?
Do you put up with inconveniences at home, at work or in public places in
order to smoke?
Do you avoid or dislike activities or places where smoking is prohibited?
Do you have a physical problem that you know cigarette smoking makes worse,
yet you continue to smoke?
If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, you are addicted.
The tobacco companies got you right where they want you.
This test was based on the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual IV that defines addiction as a "loss of control and
continued use of a psychoactive substance (e.g. nicotine) despite problems."
For information on my Stop Smoking Program,
CLICK HERE
To schedule
your first hypnosis appointment or arrange a free 15 minute consultation to
see whether hypnosis is right for you,
click below: New Hypnosis Client Intake Form
