But it’s certainly not an impossible challenge, as the many successful former smokers that join the ranks every year can attest to.  Being able to stop smoking may be difficult, but it can be done!

How then can we say that it’s actually dangerous to “try” to stop smoking?  Consider the following:

The first step for virtually anyone who wants to stop smoking is to make up their mind that this is what they’re going to do – period.  There’s a famous line in the first “Star Wars” movie where the Jedi master Yoda said simply, “Do, or do not.  There is no ‘try’.”  It sounds a bit silly, but many people who need to make serious changes in their life – losing weight, sticking to a budget, being able to stop smoking – have found those words very useful.

To say that you’re going to “try” to do something leaves you open for failure.  You’re attempting to do this thing, you’re not actually doing it.  It may sound confusing, but there is a difference.

One useful tool that many coaches and psychologists use when counseling those who want to stop smoking is that they should tell themselves that they’re either a smoker, or they’re not.  Someone who is a non-smoker isn’t “trying” to quit; he or she just doesn’t smoke, and that’s all there is to it.

Again, this may seem elementary, but it’s something that seems to work for many.  Thinking of themselves as a non-smoker doesn’t leave them the option of smoking.  Consider your many non-smoking friends – do any of them think about whether or not they’re going to have that morning cigarette, or if they’re going to light up while sitting in the bar with you?  Chances are the answer is no, they just don’t smoke, and that’s all there is to it.

So this may seem to you to be a very casual and maybe even somewhat silly way of thinking, that you should stop “trying” to stop smoking, but you need to replace that concept of “trying” with “doing.”  You’re either a smoker, or you’re not.  Once you take away your option of “trying,” you may find that you’ve taken away your option for failing, and this may be the key to your successful endeavor to once and for all stop smoking.

But is this possibly shortsighted?  Is it ever the case that someone could be helped with an issue as difficult as smoking by a hypnotist?  If it does work, how?

How Stop Smoking Hypnosis Works

Those that scoff at hypnosis as a way to help stop smoking often do not really know how the entire procedure works.  Their only experience with hypnosis is limited to what they’ve seen in Las Vegas style shows, where a comically dressed man puts someone in a trance and then makes them dance around like a chicken or quack like a duck every time they hear the phone ring.

While these shows may be cute and entertaining, stop smoking hypnosis is actually very different.  All hypnosis works by the power of suggestion; by putting someone in a very light trance, they are more able to concentrate on what it is that you’re suggesting to them.  Once their mind is cleared and they are able to focus on the hypnotist’s words, they can then be better able to receive and then consequently act on those suggestions.

Most stop smoking hypnosis sessions begin by having a conversation with the smoker about his or her habits and what they expect to gain from the session.  The hypnotist’s aim is to put the person at ease and make them feel comfortable, reassuring them that nothing bad will happen while they’re in a hypnotic state.

Using that power of suggestion, the stop smoking hypnosis session will then proceed with the hypnotist planting an idea of how a smoker will feel the next time they feel tempted to reach for a cigarette.  The hypnotist may tell them that they will feel unnatural and uncomfortable, that they will look at cigarettes as unhealthy and undesirable.

Some people don’t respond well to hypnosis under any circumstances, and then there are those that respond very well.  One or two sessions of stop smoking hypnosis may be all that’s needed for some to kick their habits without cravings and without being overcome by the urge to smoke.

So if you’re someone who is trying to quit smoking, and perhaps you think you’ve exhausted all your other options, you may want to think about taking a chance with stop smoking hypnosis.  After all, what do you have to lose except that bad habit of smoking?

Get them motivated.

Many people are still unaware of the terrible effects that smoking has on them.  One important key to help that someone to stop smoking is to make them feel motivated to quit.  What will work with this person?  Are they at all health conscious?  Do they have children or grandchildren that they want to be around to see grow up?

Can you reason with them about the many ways that they’re hurting themselves?  One way that some have used to help someone to stop smoking is to print out pictures of diseased lungs and other organs, showing the comparison between a healthy lung and one ravaged by the effects of smoking.  Of course, you might not want to do this right around lunch time, as they may just lose whatever it is they just ate!

Give them support.

Sometimes all it takes to help someone to stop smoking is to give them the needed support.  Are they afraid they’ll miss their usual hangouts or parties?  Make plans with them to go elsewhere.  Are they afraid their friends won’t want to come around if the house is now smoke-free?  Talk to your friends and explain the situation.  Make sure they’re on board as well.

Another help for someone to stop smoking is smoking aids, such as a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, inhalers, sprays, pills, and the like.  What you might do is some research on these products beforehand so that you can present this to him or her, and show how safe and effective these products really are.  By giving them this type of support and showing them that there are products that work, you might be able to take some of the fear and apprehension out of the experience.

How to really help someone to stop smoking.

Probably the best help you can give anyone is encouragement, especially if they’re someone that’s tried to quit in the past and has failed.  Let them know that this is okay, that many people who are now former smokers had to try and try again before they were successful.  By doing all this and by encouraging them, you too can be successful in your quest to help your special someone to stop smoking as well!

Imagine a product that, every year, killed off a little less than half of the population of Rhode Island.  Yes, Rhode Island is a very small state, but cigarette smoking does just that – kills off over 400,000 people every year, or just less than half of that state’s population!  To break that down even further, that means that one in every five deaths in the United States is smoking related.  A sad fact about smoking is that it is the single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States.

Many women of course are very concerned with breast cancer and respond to this concern with yearly tests, the results of which they wait for anxiously.  However, between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among women have increased by more than 400%—exceeding breast cancer deaths in the mid-1980s.  The American Cancer Society estimated that in 1994, 64,300 women died from lung cancer and 44,300 died from breast cancer.

When it comes to the health of your respiratory system, the facts about smoking are that there is virtually no part of this system that is unaffected.  Men who smoke increase their risk of death from lung cancer by more than 22 times and from bronchitis and emphysema by nearly 10 times.  Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from lung cancer by nearly 12 times and the risk of dying from bronchitis and emphysema by more than 10 times.

Some other alarming facts about smoking are that smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men and women.  Think about that – the risk is tripled!  Additionally, smoking affects every part of your body, from your mouth and throat to your bones, your blood, and your digestion.

But probably the saddest facts about smoking are those that affect “passive” smokers, or those that don’t smoke themselves but that are exposed to it from others.  Annually, exposure to secondhand smoke (or environmental tobacco smoke) causes an estimated 3,000 deaths from lung cancer among American adults.

So if you’re someone who smokes, it’s time to stop.  You can see that there is no good news about smoking, nothing beneficial or healthful about it.  You can probably recognize the harm it does to you and those around you – once you get your facts about smoking straight, that is!

Sure, we all know about lung cancer and bronchitis.  But did you know that cigarette smoking is the number one contributor to heart attacks as well?  Did you also know that many types of cancers are also thought to be caused by the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, including liver cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the larynx, cancer of the throat, cancer of the mouth and tongue, esophageal cancer, cancer of the large intestine, and even cancer of the bloodstream?

Cigarettes are not just rolled tobacco, as many people innocently think.  The tobacco industry purposely adds ingredients in order to increase tobacco’s addictiveness.  There are approximately 4000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, many of them toxic. The ingredients in cigarettes affect everything from the internal functioning of organs to the efficiency of the body’s immune system.  The effects of cigarette smoking are destructive and widespread, covering your entire body from head to toe.

Setting aside your own personal health, have you ever thought about the effects of cigarette smoking on your pocketbook?  Someone who smokes a pack a day will wind up spending over $700 every year on cigarettes.  That’s an entire month’s rent, two months worth of groceries, three or four car payments, or the cost of a very nice flat-screen television.  Not to mention how that money could grow in a nice savings account!

The effects of cigarette smoking also reach out to those around you as well.  Those who are exposed to second-hand smoke inhale about 15% the amount of nicotine as those who are active smokers, so for every ten cigarettes you have around your children, they may as well have smoked one a half cigarettes themselves.  Even pets have been found to suffer from increased health problems due to their owners smoking!  Many have respiratory diseases and cancers, all a part of the effects of cigarette smoking.

So if you smoke, it’s time to quit.  It’s time to think about how bad this habit really is, how it really touches your life and the lives of those around you.  There are absolutely no health benefits, there is no upside, there is nothing positive about the effects of cigarette smoking.

If someone wants to make this choice, that may be their right, even though it is sad and tragic.  However, what is truly sad is the knowledge that their smoking kills more than just themselves, it actually does quite a bit of harm and damage to the people around them.

It’s thought that a non-smoker living with a smoker inhales about 15% of the same tobacco as the smoker; this means that for every 10 cigarettes smoked, the non-smoker inhales the equivalent of 1-1/2 cigarettes!

These passive smokers are especially prone to the dangerous effects of smoking if they already have asthma, heart disease, or in some other way are very sensitive.

Lung cancer is still one of the leading ways that smoking kills.  Between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among women have increased by more than 400%—exceeding breast cancer deaths in the mid-1980s.  The American Cancer Society estimated that in 1994, 64,300 women died from lung cancer and 44,300 died from breast cancer.

While most connect lung cancer to the habit, smoking kills both the smoker and the non-smoker in more ways than just this.  Non-smokers who live with smokers are more likely to have asthma and scarred lungs than those who live in a smoke-free environment.  Chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) are other ways that smoking kills both the smoker and the non-smoker alike.

Annually, exposure to secondhand smoke (or environmental tobacco smoke) causes an estimated 3,000 deaths from lung cancer among American adults.  Scientific studies also link secondhand smoke with heart disease, one of the more common ways that smoking kills the smoker and non-smoker alike.

Each year, more than 400,000 Americans die from cigarette smoking.  One in every five deaths in the United States is smoking related.  Every year, smoking kills more than 276,000 men and 142,000 women.  Every year in the United States, premature deaths from smoking rob more than five million years from the potential lifespan of those who have died.  This is yet another way that non-smokers, even those not affected health-wise by smoke, are hurt by the disease.  If nothing else, this means that these ones they love and care about are being robbed of five million years; so yes, smoking kills more than just the smoker.  It’s a habit that affects everyone, smoker or not.

The judge stated that the conspiracy dated back to 1953, when a group of tobacco companies met together at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and devised a public relations plan to counter health concerns associated with smoking.  The judge also ruled that even after the 1964 Surgeon General’s report linked smoking to lung cancer, tobacco companies continued to deny and purposely distort many serious dangers of smoking their products.

It was also found that the tobacco industry marketed their product to youth groups; that even though the industry claims it does not want children to smoke, the companies were caught tracking youth behavior and preferences, thereby ensuring that “marketing and promotion reaches youth,” even hiding from them the serious dangers of smoking while their young bodies were still developing.

The industry was also faulted for denying publicly that second-hand smoke is dangerous, the judge citing internal acknowledgement that this was the case.

In 1999, the Clinton administration accused the tobacco industry of racketeering as part of a coordinated plan to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking, and to cover up the knowledge they had to the contrary.

Under the ruling, the tobacco companies were also ordered to stop using such descriptions as “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light,” “mild,” or “natural,” or any other descriptions that might seem as if these cigarettes posed less of a health hazard or in any way were an attempt to downplay the dangers of smoking them.

While this ruling was a victory for many anti-smoking and anti-tobacco campaigns, many commented on how long it took for the government to respond to tobacco’s use and on how long the actual case itself took as well.  Others felt that perhaps the court was not punitive enough with the industry.  “We are pleased with the court’s finding of liability on the part of the defendants, but disappointed that the court did not impose all of the remedies sought by the government,” the Justice Department said in a written statement.  “Nevertheless, we are hopeful that the remedies that were imposed by the court can have a significant, positive impact on the health of the American public.”  All in all, it seemed to many to be a hollow victory, but still did some good in highlighting the real dangers of smoking that even the tobacco industry itself could not – or was no longer allowed to – deny.

Consider these areas of the body that are damaged by smoking.  Your skin is usually touched by premature aging and wrinkles, as one of the common effects of smoking is poor blood circulation and a loss of oxygen, both of which are needed for healthy skin.  A smoker’s mouth usually has discolored and stained teeth and plaque, and teeth can actually become loose as the gums dry up and become brittle.

Cancers of the lips, mouth, throat and larynx are common effects of smoking, as are constant sore throats, a reduced sense of taste, and breath that smells of smoke.  That poor blood circulation means cold hands and especially cold fingertips, which are usually stained of tar.

Lung cancer is not the only smoking effect that hits the respiratory system.  Most smokers are more prone to bronchitis, a constant shortness of breath and persistent cough with sputum, and are more likely to get colds, flu, pneumonia, and asthma.  Smoking also complicates tuberculosis and virtually any other respiratory condition one can get.

The heart is also one of the major parts of the body that is not immune to the effects of smoking.  Many heart attacks can be traced to smoking.  Smoking blocks and weakens the arteries of the heart and constricts blood vessels, making the heart need to work harder just to do its job.

When thinking about the body’s mid-section, cancers of the esophagus, abdomen, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, and colon are all traced to the effects of smoking.

The bones are also not immune to smoking’s effects.  Osteoporosis, spine and hip fractures, and degenerative disc disease can be traced back to smoking.

Infertility is another issue with heavy and chronic smokers, both male and female.  Men can have lower sperm counts and decreased sperm motility, and women can have difficulty with ovulation when smoking.

As for the rest of the body, the effects of smoking are many, including blood diseases, decreased circulation to the feet and toes, and difficulty recovering from wounds.  Really, when you think about it, there is not one place on the human body that does not suffer, and suffer greatly, from smoking’s effects.  Really, is there any reason why it’s not time to quit?

There is always much in the news about secondhand smoking, with new reports and statistics coming out on a seemingly daily basis.  But how much of what you hear is hype, and how much is actual fact when it comes to the dangers of secondhand smoking?  Is there any such thing as being safe when you’re a non-smoker who lives with a smoker?

The truth about secondhand smoking.

No, secondhand smoking isn’t quite as dangerous as actual smoking.  However, there is enough danger from this that one should sit up and take notice, especially when a smoker is around a child for some time.  It’s estimated that a non-smoker who lives with a smoker inhales about 15% of their smoking; in other words, for every ten cigarettes that you smoke, the non-smoker will inhale the equivalent of one and a half cigarettes.

Secondhand smoking is especially dangerous around those whose immune systems may be compromised or somewhat weaker, and this is where the extreme danger is for children.  Their hearts and lungs are still developing and therefore much more susceptible to any type of danger, especially that from passive or secondhand smoking.

The risks to children include sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the risk of developing asthma or having asthma attacks increase, lung infections, bronchitis, and virtually any other type of respiratory disease.

Secondhand smoking has also been linked to learning disabilities, especially for children who have been exposed to this before birth.

Pets too are not immune to the risks.  Secondhand smoking is generally recognized as a risk factor for cancer in pets.  A study conducted by the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Massachusetts concluded that cats living with a smoker were more likely to get feline lymphoma; the risk increased with the duration of exposure to secondhand smoke and the number of smokers in the household.

So it seems that all the information you’ve seen and read about secondhand smoking is not really hype, but that there is good reason to be concerned, for your own health, your children’s health, and even the health of your pets.

So what are some stop smoking aids that you can try, and how can you know the best ones for you?

Most Stop Smoking Aids are Effective

The good news about over-the-counter or relatively affordable stop smoking aids is that most of them are very effective.  For example, one of the most popular options, the nicotine patch, works by releasing nicotine into your system slowly over a long period of time.  This helps to calm your cravings for nicotine and keeps you from reaching for that cigarette.  Some are designed to be worn for 24 hours, while others need to come off at night or stay on only for half a day.  They are of course waterproof and do little damage to the skin; a mild rash or irritation is the only side effect that many report.

Nicotine gum is another effective stop smoking aid that many people have success with.  The gum works much like the patch in that it slowly releases nicotine into the body’s system.  Nicotine gum isn’t like regular gum in that it can’t be chewed endlessly; most brands of nicotine gum come with instructions on how to nestle the gum between the cheek and the teeth for some time in between chewing.  Many people appreciate nicotine gum as a stop smoking aid because it gives them something to chew on and relieves some of that restlessness that many smokers report when they first try to quit.

There are of course other stop smoking aids, from pills to hypnotherapy.  Many of these are reported to be very effective by those who have tried them.  Most report the best success when they couple these aids with things such as regular exercise, a better diet, regular water intake to keep themselves hydrated and to help flush out the lingering toxins from cigarettes, and of course family support.

Of course each individual will need to make up their own mind about what stop smoking aids he or she will try, and of course it’s best to consult with one’s doctor, but the bottom line is that if you’re ready to stop smoking, there are plenty of items out there that can help.