The decision to give up smoking is a challenge for most smokers. It can be particularly difficult if you find opting not to light up is causing you to struggle with your mental health.
The nicotine content in tobacco is the drug that induces physical dependency and emotional addiction to its pleasant feelings. This physical dependence is the catalyst for all those highly unpleasant cravings and withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit smoking.
The chemicals in tobacco smoke affect your brain chemistry and you’re your emotions. That’s why dealing with your mental health while you quit smoking is important and one of the best techniques to work on mental health is hypnotherapy to quit smoking.
Links Between Smoking And Mental Health Issues
While establishing cause and effect is rarely straightforward, researchers do have established a link between smoking and poor mental health.
Research consistently shows people with mental health conditions are more likely to smoke, and the more severe their condition the more they smoke. Roughly 33 per cent of people with a mental health condition smoke, compared with 18.7 per cent of the general population.
According to the World Health Organization, within the first year of quitting smoking, your risk of heart disease drops to around half that of a smoker’s. Within 15 years it drops to the same level as someone who has never smoked.
So, if you quit smoking at 30, your life expectancy will be 10 years higher than a smoker who continues with their habit.
Common Mental Health Issues When You Quit Smoking
There are ten common emotional issues experienced by smokers who quit:
- Depression
- Frustration
- Irritability
- Anger
- Anxiety
- A sense of loss
- Trouble with concentration
- Sadness
- Impatience
- Boredom and restlessness.
Sorting Your Mental Health Issues
There are many useful tools and techniques available to smokers looking to quit tobacco once and for all. Many of the physical cravings can be dealt with using nicotine replacement gum or patches.
Unfortunately, these are less helpful in dealing with the mental effects brought on by quitting cigarettes, which can be a more vexing challenge.
Hypnotherapy Can Snap Your Emotional Dependence On Smoking
Your emotional dependence on the chemicals in nicotine makes it difficult to resist relapsing after you quit.
Nicotine replacement therapy alone is rarely enough support for you to quit smoking. Quit smoking hypnotherapy treatments can help smokers stop permanently more effectively than relying on one approach alone.
How Hypnosis Helps You Quit Smoking
There comes a point after you quit smoking when every former smoker has to deal with serious cravings and unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Hypnosis can assist smokers to achieve their goals of kicking their habit and improving their health.
Your hypnotherapist is most effective when they are amplifying your underlying desire and will to quit.
However, this is rarely an easy ride. It can be particularly problematic if you struggle with your mental health. Many smokers use cigarettes as a type of self-medication. For them, lighting up is a quick way to temporarily relieve stress and anxiety. Trying to quit can stir up some uncomfortable feelings and trigger stressors.
Having a cigarette can relieve the discomfort brought on by the need for a cigarette, so smokers inevitably believe smoking relieves their stress. However, this relief is fleeting at best. The research found quitting smoking leads to improvements in mental health.
So, hypnosis is all about helping you to identify your common smoking cravings and relapse triggers and assisting you to successfully resist them.
Your quit smoking hypnosis therapy is supported by self-help materials and mobile apps designed to help you get through your transition to a smoke-free future.
And just like your physical withdrawal symptoms, your emotional challenges will get easier over time.
Final Observation
In the shorter term, tapping into is hypnotherapy to quit smoking will increase your energy levels, give you back your sense of smell and taste and boost your immune system, lowering your likelihood of contracting heart or lung conditions.
Importantly, quitting smoking is directly linked with decreased bouts of depression and anxiety, together with improvements in your psychological quality of life.
