Does Hypnosis Help People Quit Smoking?

Article

21 Sept

Tobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of severe health outcomes and early death. Nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. alone are associated with tobacco smoking.

Can hypnosis really help people quit this habit?

Let’s dive in.

Tobacco smoking is a popular habit that is deadly as a result of causing or worsening other illnesses. It worsened the outcomes of COVID-19 in the United States and overwhelmingly increases the risk of lung cancer, stroke, coronary heart disease, and type II diabetes.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 40 million adults in the U.S. smoke tobacco, and government projections estimate more than 5.6 million children and adolescents in the United States will die prematurely due to smoking. This deadly habit projects increased mortality in the present and future. So, reducing smoking is a top public health priority.

It is known to be an addictive and harmful habit that people frequently try to quit. About 70% of smokers in the U.S. report a motivation to stop smoking, and at least 50% have attempted to quit.

Quitting tobacco smoking leads to substantial improvements in physical health: within a few years after quitting smoking, the risk of heart attack drops, the risk of stroke decreases to an almost never-smoked level, and the risk of lung cancer drops.

So let’s learn how hypnosis can help.

Hypnosis for Smoking Cessation

Hypnosis is a beneficial drug-free approach to quitting smoking. For example, research showed that hypnosis led to 40% of the patients quitting after treatment while more than half of them quit when they were followed up with for twelve weeks. They also found that one session of hypnosis for quitting smoking gave better post-treatment quitting than some other intervention methods.

Exactly how hypnosis helps depends on the needs and wants of the individual seeking treatment, as well as the style of the clinician. Clinicians who use hypnosis make use of different kinds of suggestions to help their clients stop smoking. Anecdotally, examples of this include replacing the desire to smoke with a healthier desire, or the craving evaporating into thin air.

Hypnosis is even more effective when combined with other conventional interventions. One study showed that after three months of both hypnosis and counseling, 56% of the patients quit compared to the 12% that quit from counseling alone.

Similarly, a trial found that one year after treatment 29% of participants who received hypnosis in conjunction with nicotine replacement theory remained abstinent while only 16% of participants who received counseling in combination with nicotine replacement therapy remained abstinent.

Self–hypnosis is a viable method for reinforcing other quitting strategies. Dr. Spiegel, Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, co-founded Reveri. Reveri was created to help more people achieve remarkable results, beyond the scope of his in-person practice. He offers a variety of different suggestions in the Quit Smoking exercise to help people develop healthier habits and stop smoking.

Why it’s a better alternative

Hypnosis seems to be a safer, cheaper, and more effective option than conventional treatments.

Physician advice alone produced only 2.5% smoking abstinence. Nicotine replacement therapy, the most common drug-based approach for quitting smoking, comes with a substantial financial cost. Moreover, a recent trial found that hypnosis-based treatment for quitting smoking is up to three times more effective in preventing smoking than nicotine replacement therapy.

And unlike other treatments, hypnosis is independent and not directly reliant on other professionals. When you engage in hypnotic sessions on the Reveri app, you’re guided into hypnosis by Dr. Spiegel but are able to do it without having to meet. Further, Reveri teaches the self-hypnosis skill. After enough practice, you may be able to enter the hypnotic state on demand.

Moreover, medications for smoking cessation come with potential side effects, such as nausea, headache, and sleep issues. The first-line drug treatments for smoking carry a risk for individuals with mental health problems due to potential increases in anxiety and mood symptoms.

Let’s Recall What We’ve Learned

Smoking cessation is a public health issue and a challenging habit to kick for tobacco users, even if they want to. Hypnosis can be an effective approach to reducing tobacco use and maintaining abstinence.

Hypnosis is likely more effective than some drugs and counseling for smoking cessation and can enhance their effects when combined with those approaches. Additionally, it’s a cheaper and more accessible treatment option than alternatives such as nicotine replacement therapy and other drug-based therapies.

Given the effectiveness, safety, and ease of use of hypnosis, and considering the devastating health effects of smoking and the harmful side effects of other treatments, we strongly recommend hypnosis for smoking reduction and cessation.

Sources:

Hypnosis and Smoking Cessation

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