stop smoking

There are now only 20 days left until the UK Smoking Ban comes into force on 1 July.

The Independent discusses what it calls the 'crave to quit' industry in the run-up to the ban, including hypnotherapy.

Of course, everyone is entitled to weigh up the evidence and make their own decisions about how they want to stop, but what annoys me is that the general public aren't really hearing all the evidence.

Things you may not have heard about:

1. The claim that manufacturers of cigarettes and smoking cessation drugs work 'hand in glove'
For example, did you know about the claim that there is a 'symbiotic relationship' between the manufacturers of cigarettes and the manufacturers and distributors of nicotine patches and gum? The Citizens for Clean Air and Lungs Association have described this relationship as 'hand in glove'.

2. Some evidence that patches and gum don't work very well
Take a look at this study measuring abstinence from smoking after eight years, in participants in a randomised controlled trial of nicotine patches . The investigators conclude:

'Eight years after taking part in a randomised trial of the nicotine patch, just under half of the 9% who had stopped smoking for a year had relapsed, leaving 5% of all trial participants continuously abstinent for eight years.'

If hypnotherapy could only hope to help 9% of people quit for one year and 5% of people quit for eight years, I'd give up right now.

3. The research on hypnotherapy
In 1992, a meta-analysis to find the most effective way to give up smoking was conducted by Frank Schmidt and Chockalingam Viswesvaran of the University of Iowa, statistically combining the results of more than 600 studies covering almost 72 000 people from America, Scandinavia and elsewhere. This study showed that, for most smokers, the most effective technique was hypnosis: in fact, 48 studies covering over 6000 smokers, gave an average success rate of 80% for this method. The findings were reported in New Scientist in October 1992.

Why haven't you heard about these findings and why didn't GPs around the country immediately begin sending their patients to registered, reputable hypnotherapists? Well, the reasons are probaby to do with prejudice (many GPs are dismissive of hypnotherapy and think we're a bunch of pocket-watch-swinging music hall tricksters), and the simple fact that there's no money in hypnosis for the drug companies.

Unfortunately, the professional bodies for hypnotherapists don't have the kind of resources available for advertising and marketing that would enable them to compete with the drug companies who put the patches and gum on your supermarket shelves. But it upsets me immensely that so much money is being made out of people's desperation to quit when there is evidence that patches and gum only work for a tiny percentage of people.

Controversial guidelines from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) advise that employers should give smokers time off to attend weekly support groups to help them to stop smoking.

But if other employers followed the lead of West Midlands Police they could avoid all the arguments and send staff for one session of hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is much more cost-effective than weekly clinics as only one session is required and there are no other hidden costs involved such as expensive nicotine patches, gum or tablets.

Unfortunately, the drug companies don't want people to know that their own inner resources are a far more powerful tool in kicking the habit than any nicotine replacement therapy. Of course they don't want people to know! What's in it for them?

It actually makes me very cross that people are being misled about the biochemistry involved in smoking addiction. Nicotine is out of your body in four days so, if you can give up for a week, you are no longer physically addicted. It is the psychological habit involved in smoking that is hardest to overcome.

Simple willpower is the tough way to do it. But you can make it much easier for yourself by working with a therapist who will help you to use the power of your subconscious mind to overcome the habiit of smoking.

Any employer out there looking for a truly effective, money and cost-saving method needs to look at hypnotherapy. You certainly won't need to give people any time off work and the results speak for themselves.