Quitting smoking without going crazy - is this actually possible?!!
Your panic attacks, nicotine cravings, anxiety, withdrawal symptoms and irrtability make quitting smoking one of the hardest things you can do. And to do it without going crazy is a pretty hard feat to a cheive.
But can it be done? The truth is yes! But it is not as simple as you may think.
All the things that make you 'go crazy' are real things that have a huge effect on you and your body. I've already mentioned some of them above, and to make it easy you need to understand two things.
Firstly, the things that make you feel like hell on earth when you stop smoking are not all down to a lack of or your body's adiction to nicotine.
Yes nicotine plays a huge role in the way you feel in the days after your last cigarette, but it most definitely does not cause you to get into a panic or alter the way you think.
Nicotine can only cause a few of the 'symptoms' or 'side-effects' that I've listed above. And they are caused because your body is removing nicotine and other toxins ( a exhaustive cleaning process to remove the 4,000 chemicals in each cigarette from your body), not because your body wants it or needs it.
Secondly, it's a good idea for you to see that each and every single of the above issues like panic attacks, anxiety and irritability are each different problems brought on by different causes.
You don't get panicky and go crazy because you 'need nicotine'. You do so because you and your mind are so used to relying on cigarettes to deal with stress and problems, that when you don't have a cigarette you don't know what to do with yourself!
And you go crazy because you feel strange - but you're not aware that that panic attack, anxiety and strange feeling is more to do with the fact that you haven't got a cigarette to turn to. It is not caused because you don't have nicotine in your system to 'relax' you.
Each and every sinlge problem you have when you stop smoking, has a root cause. And therefore a root solution. You can't just quit smoking and expect a patch or a new wonder drug to beat every single one of your problems.
So what is the solution to quitting smoking without going crazy?
The best thing you can do is sit down and anticipate all the smoking pitfalls and problems you are likely to face. From withdrawal symptoms and carvings, to weight gain, everyday stress and problems, to recurring habits and routines.
Remebering that many of these problems will not be directly caused from quitting smoking, some will be every day problems that you face now and don't realise you solve by smoking.
Then you can anticipate and plan on how to beat each and every single problem, seperately. You are not going to be able to solve all the possible smoking pitfalls with one or two solutions.
So the secret to quitting smoking without going crazy is to plan how you are going to quit smoking, and realise that you need to look at and solve each problem seperately. You're not going to be able to quit smoking in a few days, it will take a couple of weeks and some good plans.
From my personal experience, many smokers steer clear of hypnosis to stop smoking because they think that it will wake too long. Understandably most of you want to stop smoking ASAP!
Which is great, but it's also a by-product of today's super fast paced society. We have fast food, broadband internet connections, fast cars and the ability to travel from the US to the UK in under five hours. So it's understandable that you want to stop smoking right NOW!
So how long does it take for hypnosis to work?
Well, unfortunately from my experience you can't stop smoking with a magic pill or in a few hours. There is a lot of work you absolutely must do. By far the best way to approach the problem is with hypnosis. And many hypnotherapist have good success rates with one quick one or two hour session, and some prefer 3 sessions.
Hypnosis works because it deals with the root causes of your smoking habits and actions. After allm you smoke for a reason don't you! You either want to relax or reduce stress, you are bored, you are lacking confidence in new surroundings and with new people, you are anxious or because you enjoy it.
These are just a few of your reasons for smoking. So to answer your question - how long does it take for hypnosis to work? I would say that it deepends a little on how much you rely on cigarettes, and not on how many you smoke a day.
For example you may smoke 40 a day, but most of them are probably out of boredom or habit. You don't need them, you just smoke them to pass the time. When you and your hypnotherapist
find your reasons for smoking, it simply a matter or re-programming your mind to focus on something different.
For most smokers this usually takes two one hour sessions. The first one for you to find out what makes you smoke, find out what it is that you want in terms of replacing your desire for cigarettes with something else and to then re-program your mind.
And the second one to re-inforce your new desires to stay off cigarettes.
The whole process usually takes about a week or two. But that's not it! In my opinion many hypnotherapists and smokers fail to spend time on one very, very important area of stopping smoking - staying stopped!
Yes your one or two sessions may have worked, but what about when you see a passer by smoking, or you get a whiff of smoke of a colleagues clothes. I think you need to spend a little time before your session planning on how you are doing to keep yourself distracted and how you are going to block out any desires to smoke!
Some people don't need this, but why take the chance that you will end up smoking again!
If you ask me - how long does it take for hypnosis to work? I would say that the hypnosis it'self only takes about two and a half hours in total at most.
But there are a few other things that you should do to stop smoking and stay stopped, and ensure that you really enjoy your life much more as an ex-smoker than you did as a smoker!
I know that a lot of smokers often think that there is always a best time to quit smoking.
Whether that be for your New Year's resolution, on your birthday, for lent, just before you go on holiday or vacation, for women when you are pregnant or when you move house.
The 'best times' you could choose are endless. And you might also think that there are bad or 'worst times' to quit smoking. Like after a breakup with a partner, before Christmas when you know that you'll probably have some sort of family squabble, when you are highly stressed, when you lose your job or just before a big night out.
You may not realise it but the timing is never right or wrong. Or worst or best. The problem or success in quitting smoking comes from your approach and your outlook towards your task - quitting smoking.
With the exception of being pregnant there is no 'best time to quit smoking', and this only becomes the best time to quit smoking because it can harm you and your baby. In all other cases you probably see the 'best time' as a situation or mement in time.
What you should be doing is finding your best state of mind. Let's say that you promised yourself that you would wuit smoking, when you were 30 or 40 - a very common belief / hope in most smokers, while also disguised procrastination!
You're putting it off for now! But's that's not what I'm getting at. So let's say next week is your 30th birthday and you have a big party organised. You know you want to stop smoking and now is the 'best time' because you promised yourself, and it means you can stop poinsoning yourself with all that harmful smoke.
That's great! But then you start to think that you can't remember the last time you went to bed without smoking a bed time cig. You reminisce about the great cigarettes you give yourself after a workout at the gym, the ones you read with your book, or what about the ones you have while you're on the phone?
And you consciously and unconsciously start to panic that you just won't be able to cope without cigarettes. You wonder what you are going to do when you are bored, or when you are waiting nervously for some exam / test results, or how you are going to cope with stress.
What will usually happen is that most smokers will either consciously or unconsciously feel that they just can't do it, it's too hard. So they stop! And they end up blaming themselves for believing that a.) the time is 'wrong' and b.) they just 'can't' quit.
Then makes is so, so much harder the next time. And people wonder why it takes 7 attempts to quit smoking with will power and why nicotine patches and gums etc only have a 16% success rate! A rate which whe you look at it is a 84% failure rate!
Anyway, the problem was not that it wasn't the best time to quit smoking. It was their mind set.
They set off reminiscing and focusing on the good things and great cigarettes they would leave behind! This then sets them up for a fall before they even started! The mind will go after the very thing you focus on. And if you focus on the cigarette that you are going to miss then one of two things will happen.
1. You'll very soon end up smoking again, or
2. You'll manage to quit, but your life will be a living hell! Everytime you seen someone smoking you'll wish you could have 'just one drag' nad you'll punish yourself for life!
I know plenty of these people - but the shame of it is that they just don't want to listen and can't take the obvious truth - stop thinking about cigarettes! Problem solved!
So if you are looking for the best time to quit smoking, Stop! And find your best state of mind.
Make sure you really want to stop smoking, and that you will never look back over your shoulder reminiscing or wishing you could smoke again.
Then my friend you can look forward to a richer, healthier, fresher and happeir life. Don't let your thoughts focus on the things you are going to miss. Instead concentrate on the things you are going to gain.
If you are looking for things to say to get someone to stop smoking then you're going to have a hard time.
Let me explain, no matter how much you love someone and they love you, trying to get someone to stop smoking will probably cause an argument. Smoking is a way of life for smokers, they enjoy it, it's a part of practically everything they do.
From the minute they wake up, to the minute they go to sleep - often a day will start and end with a cigarette. Smokers often don't know or can't remember when things were different. And if you try to get them to change this, you're probably going to be on the receiving end of a cold shoulder!
Most people don't like change, especially from something they like. And all smokers, even the ones that want to stop smoking, enjoy some of their cigarettes. Maybe it's the one after sex, maybe it's the cigarette they have with their coffee or maybe they love finishing a meal and relaxing with a cigarette.
So if you're trying to find things to say to get someone to stop smoking you're only going to succeed in annoying them!
Telling them that they are going to die or that they are aging at three times the rate than the rest of us or that their clothes smell terrible will get both of you nowhere. And it might even work against you, and make them smoke more. Either just to annoy you or because hearing all these things stresses them out.
I know this from personal experience. I once tried to help an ex-girlfriend stop smoking (when I was learning about helping others to stop smoking) and it failed miserably, in fact we almost broke up because of it!
So what can you do? A couple of things really. Firstly find out if they want to stop, and if so let them know that you are willing to help. But don't push them or bring it up constantly, they'll get annoyed, trust me!
Secondly, help them find a new focus in life. I know many ex-smokers who do nothing but fantasize about having 'just one cigarette.' This is not healthy, and they are miserable for it! So help them find a way to make sure that when they stop smoking they really, really enjoy life for making this positive chage.
And with all the money they are saving, around about $2,000 a year for a pack a day smoker, they can invest in a new car, a new expensive holiday or vacation or two, some new clothes and a make over or a new TV. Whever it is help them to see that their life is better once they stop smoking.
So if you if you really want to know what kinds of things to say to get someone to stop smoking, you should put yourself in their shoes - if someone wanted you to give up something you really enjoy and just can't stop doing, how would you feel and what would it take to get you to stop?
I don't think I need to tell you that smoking is a habit as well as an addiciton! But in my oppinion smoking is about eighty percent habit and twenty percent addiction. So I think it's pretty important for you to find ways to prevent smoking habits.
Think about the cigarettes you have had today, the ones you had yesterday and the ones you've smoked over the last week. How many of them come at the same time of the day, every day?
If you take a few minutes to think about your daily routines, it's certain that cigarettes play a key role in your habits. I mean do you have a cigarette 1st thing in the morning as soon as you roll out of bed, or when you put the kettle on or when you walk out the door to work?
What about in the car, as soon as you get off the bus, tube or train before walking in the office door?
Then there are break times, the after meal cigarette, stress reducing and 'head-clearing' cigarettes you have. These are a very, very small selection of the smoking habits you have.
When you stop smoking, these times, events, places, people and emotions will remind you to smoke. And if you don't find at least a few ways to prevent smoking habits you're going to face a difficult time!
The first thing to do is find out each and every single one of your smoking habits. So write them all down - each cigarette you smoke has a reason for it. You either needed it or you smoked it to resolve a problem.
The best way to pevent your smoking habits is then to either resolve the problem, find a new solution to replace the cigarette or break the link all together.
What you need to do is break and prevent your smoking habits so that no time, place, feeling, problem or event makes you smoke again. Once you've done that my friend, you will be well on your way to stopping smoking and the very importantly - staying stopped!
Is this a big problem you face when you stop smoking?
Almost every smoker I know blames their cravings, excessive eating, headches, irritable moods, uncomfortable bodily feelings and even sore arms and knees down to nicotine withdrawals!
The simple truth is that your nicotine withdrawal cannot cause all these things! For a start, the amount of nicotine you inhale is so little that you cannot become addicted to it! Ok so you're thinking - what? Everybody knows that nicotine is addictive!
Well that's what we've all bee led to believe. So let me give you a few small examples to clarify my point. Nicotine is a poison. If you were to inject the total amount of nicotine in each cigarette into your body, or drop it on your tongue - you would die in a matter of seconds.
Between 60 - 90% of the nicotine in each cigarette dissappears in the sidestream smoke ( also known as second hand smoke), so you are only receiving a fraction of the nicotine you believe you are.
Each and every sinlge night since you started smoking, you have slept anywhere from 6 - 10 hours. But have you woken up every night on the hour or every forty five minutes to have a cigarette? We both know the answer to that one!
If nicotine is more addictive that heroin how come you can go each and every night without a cigarette for seven or eight hours, while a heroin addict will suffer heavy sweats, go into shock, experience uncontrolable kicking movements and will get dihorrea, if they don't get their fix?!!
So all those side effects you get when you stop smoking are not down to your nicotine withdrawals because you are not addicted to nicotine! If your body really were dependent on the substance, which is a poison, you would need your nicotine fix right throughout the night wouldn't you!
The terrible side effects you experience when you stop smoking are not nicotine withdrawals, but they are the symptoms of your body's heavy cleaning process. Each cigarette has 4,700 chemicals in it and each year you smoke you deposit 3/4 of a cup of tar into your lungs.
This is going to require some heavy duty clenaing to remove. So your body is stressed and under a huge strain to remove those chemicals. So no wonder you are going to feel off and uncomfortable.
When you have a stomach bug you feel bad don't you? That's party because your body is working overtime to remove and kill off the bug. It's the same with smoking.
You're not experiencing nicotine withdrawals, instead your body is out of sync as it tries to remove the nicotine, lead, candle wax, lighter fuel, carbon monoxide and tar in each cigarette, from your body.
The next time you think to yourself I can't take these nicotine withdrawals, remember that you feel this way because your body is trying to remove these chemicals from your body, not get more!
The best ways to solve these feelings you've confused with nicotine withdrawals? Eat. That's what I said! If you eat the right kinds of foods, you won't gain weightt, and you will be giving your body the energy it needs to clean out all the gunk.
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Blog Directory ID: 1260
Blog URL: http://www.thecompletestepbystepguidetoquittingsmoking.com/blog.html
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Blog Description: Discover how to quit smoking with hypnosis and use tried, tested and proven techniques that show you how to prevent relapse, weight gain and cravings. Learn the strategies and tips hypnotherapists have been using for years.
Blog Tags: how to quit smoking with hypnosis 
Blog Category: Health & Wellness Blogs
Blog Owner: Daniel Fargher
Blog Added: December 17, 2007 11:10:37 PM
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Blog Country: United Kingdom
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