Smoking: addiction vs habit
Addiction,or habit?
Why stopping can feel harder than it needs to be.
More habitthan you think.
If you see smoking as an addiction, stopping can feel daunting, as if your body needs nicotine and you’re powerless against it.
Nicotine is addictive, and withdrawal is real. But it’s only part of the story, and usually the shorter part.
Consider this
- 01
Every night
Most smokers go eight hours or more without a cigarette while they sleep, without waking up in withdrawal.
- 02
Three to four weeks
The NHS says withdrawal symptoms are strongest in the first few days and last three to four weeks on average.
- 03
Same time, same place
Most people smoke at the same moments every day: with coffee, after meals, on the phone, when they’re stressed.
A habit on autopilot
What keeps most people smoking is the habit.
Over the years, cigarettes get linked to particular times, places and feelings, until reaching for one is automatic. That’s why stopping on willpower alone is so tiring: you’re overriding your autopilot all day.
It’s like driving on the other side of the road abroad. Neither side is harder, but your habits are set, so it feels awkward until the new way becomes automatic.
Where hypnotherapy helps
Hypnotherapy works with the subconscious, where habits are held.
In your session we look at your own patterns first. Then the hypnotherapy helps your mind let go of the links between smoking and your day, so that not smoking becomes the natural choice. The aim is for you to feel like a non-smoker, without feeling deprived or replacing cigarettes with something else.
Smoking facts
More to read
Stop smoking hypnotherapy
A simpler wayto stop.
One session, tailored to you, by Zoom from your own home, with the personalised recording to keep.
We start with a conversation about your smoking or vaping, then the hypnotherapy, based on what you’ve told me. The aim is for you to feel like a non-smoker, not an ex-smoker who still misses cigarettes.
Sources
Start with a conversation.
Tell me about your smoking or vaping and what you’d like to change. I reply within 24 hours.