Stoptober Gosober Quit Drugs with hypnotherapy
Stoptober it’s time to quit smoking for good
Stoptober Gosober quit drugs! Sounds like quite a mouthful but what impact does that statement make to you? What do you understand or interpret from that? Is it simply a catchy quote I’ve put together or is there something more to all of this?
It’s that time of year again when the masses consider giving up smoking, drinking, and drugs. There’s something about a mass decision, no inclusion, in a mass social activity that brings out the best and worst in people.
Stoptober
Stoptober run by Public Health England is a 28 day campaign that starts October 1st. The research collected so far shows that if you can stop smoking for 28 days, you are 5 times more likely to stay smoke free for good. But they aren’t stats, look at some historical data below
Key Facts
Smoking prevalence
• In 2014, 19 per cent of adults in Great Britain currently smoked, down from a peak of 46 per cent in 1974.
• Average consumption among smokers was 11 cigarettes a day – the lowest daily cigarette consumption since the series began when it was 16.
• In 2014, 18 per cent of secondary school pupils reported they had tried smoking at least once.
Hospital admissions
• There were 1.7 million admissions for conditions that could be caused by smoking in 2014/15. This is an average of 4.7 thousand admissions per day.
• Of these 475 thousand (28 per cent) were estimated to be attributed to smoking.
Deaths
• There were 78,000 deaths in 2014 which were estimated to be attributed to smoking.
E-cigarettes
• In 2015, 4 per cent of adults in Great Britain were current e-cigarette users.
• More secondary school pupils reported having tried e-cigarettes at least once (22 per cent) than traditional cigarettes (18 per cent).
Expenditure
• In 2015, tobacco was 27 per cent less affordable than it was in 2005.
• Tobacco expenditure as a proportion of total household expenditure has fallen to 1.7 per cent in 2015 from 3.3 per cent in 1985.
Prescriptions
• In 2014/15 the number of prescription items dispensed in England to help people stop smoking was 1.3 million, compared to 2.0 million ten years ago.
• The net ingredient cost was £38.1 million.
Data from digital.nhs.uk
Again, these are great figures but what do they mean to you? Nothing there is going to make you think “Yes, it’s time to quit” is there? If you have anything to share, please leave a comment at the end of this article.
But what if I showed you a picture of a set of smokers lungs versus the lungs of a non-smoker?
Or the damage it can cause to your teeth? That’s the impact it can have on your mouth!
Images may go some way to put you off, I’m not sure the smokers that buy cigarettes with these images on them care much, so I’d safely say image plays a part but isn’t decisive.
Would you say the physical scarring smoking leaves on you will force you to change? Look at the images of these twins and see the difference between the smokers and the non-smokers.
Whilst slimmer, twin B shows far more signs of ageing
Here twin B has more aging in her face, dark circles around the eyes and looks generally more tired.
In this photo, twin B is clearly aging at a much faster rate than her sibling in the first image, would this image give you cause to stop? Consider stopping? Or just give you cause for concern?
No?
What about the combined sets of information you’ve just read? Facts, organ visuals and the aging does on the outside of the body. Can these individual pieces of information combined convince you to stop smoking for Stoptober?
Gosober
Gosober started out as a social charitable event with the aim of individuals as a collective or en masse giving up the consumption of alcohol to raise money. McMillan Cancer are an avid sponsor of Gosober.
But should Gosober have more of an in-depth meaning? Should it be used a way to raise public awareness of the true damage that Alcoholism does to individuals and families mentally, physically and emotionally?
Do you know the long-term medical side effects of alcohol abuse? Look at the list below:
- Brain Damage
- Cancers
- Hypertension (Heart and Circulation)
- Lungs
- Liver
- Stomach
- Pancreas
- Intestine
- Kidneys
- Fertility
- Bones (lack of calcium absorption)
- Weight Gain
- Skin Damage
- Sexual Health (promiscuity can lead to HIV, chlamydia or hepatitis when inebriated)
- Mental Health (anxiety, depression, risk-taking behaviour, suicide, personality disorders & schizophrenia)
And some of the facts:
Alcohol has also been linked to suicide. The Mental Health Foundation reports that:
- 65% of suicides have been linked to excessive drinking;
- 70% of men who take their own life drink alcohol before doing so;
- almost one-third of suicides among young people take place while the person is intoxicated.
Excessive drinking can disrupt normal sleeping patterns, resulting in insomnia and a lack of restful sleep, which can contribute to stress and anxiety.
1 Mental Health Foundation. Cheers! Understanding the relationship between alcohol and mental health. London: Mental Health Foundation, 2006.
So, you’ve read the medical damage listed above, seen the association to suicide and mental illness through research, does this make you view alcohol abuse differently? If you saw a friend or loved one getting more and more outrageous or conniving around their consumption of alcohol, would you intervene now?
How about some pictures?
Do any of these trigger emotions that would make you intervene if these were friends or if this image of a liver below was inside you right now?
stoptober-gosober-quit-alcohol-4
I’m guessing it may offend you a little, maybe you recoiled looking at it, but has it made you reconsider the effects your own drinking may be having on your body?
Quit drugs
We’ve all seen the effects of drug abuse on our TV’s, possibly friends or family and in adverts in newspapers, magazines or websites. But what about you? Do you consume drugs recreationally as a way to escape reality or as a way to “have fun” on the weekend? Do you have a more severe dependency on drugs? Is it ruining your relationships with your friends or families or in your place of work?
Drugs always ruin lives! You may not see or accept it in recreational drug use as you possibly only partake on weekends or when you go away to a holiday destination. But remember, you simply do not know what you are injecting sniffing or smoking.
Binge abuse on drugs is as bad as binge abuse on alcohol. Overloading the body with stimulants causes hard work on the internal organs as well as external organ, your skin. You can overdose, dehydrate, go into a coma or even die, it’s a very serious issue that needs addressing.
Overcoming drug addiction has followed the same path for years now, this help-guide to staged recovery talks about it in depth. The 12 steps, the recovery program, they all play a part in helping addicts of all natures overcome their dependency.
But what would make you or someone you know give up their addiction? And you do realise that even recreational use is an addiction?
Let’s look at the facts:
Key Facts
Drug misuse related hospital admissions (England)
In 2015/16 there were 8,621 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental health and behavioural disorders. This is 6 per cent more than 2014/15 and 11 per cent higher than 2005/06.
There were 15,074 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs. This is 6 per cent more than 2014/15 and 51 per cent more than 2005/06.
Deaths related to drug misuse (England and Wales)
In 2015 there were 2,479 registered deaths related to drug misuse. This is an increase of 10 per cent on 2014 and 48 per cent higher than 2005.
Deaths related to drug misuse are at their highest level since comparable records began in 1993.
Drug use among adults (England and Wales)
In 2015/16, around 1 in 12 (8.4 per cent) adults aged 16 to 59 had taken an illicit drug in the last year. This equates to around 2.7 million people.
This level of drug use was similar to the 2014/15 survey (8.6 per cent), but is significantly lower than a decade ago (10.5 per cent in the 2005/06 survey).
Drug use among children (England)
In 2014, 15 per cent of pupils had ever taken drugs, 10 per cent had taken drugs in the last year and 6 per cent had taken drugs in the last month.
The prevalence of drug use increased with age. 6 per cent of 11-year old’s said they had tried drugs at least once, compared with 24 per cent of 115-year-olds.
Do any of these make you think, Right, I need help? Or my friend or family member needs help?
What about some pictures, will they activate a motion to quit within you or to motivate you to help someone close to you?
Power of The Mind
They say you form habits in 21- 30 days of repetitive activity. Imagine that? That is behavioural patterns, eating habits, recreational habits, addictions, positive outcomes.
But not all positive outcomes happen in 21-30 days.
Drugs have a biochemical reaction in the body as much as cigarettes and alcohol do. So why is it that two people taking the same drugs can have one totally addicted and one able to pick it up and put it down as they please?
This has something to with the mind, the subconscious and human nature.
Now, look back at what I discussed around Stoptober Gosober quit drugs in this article earlier. Look at how I presented you with different stimulants to different subjects to get a reaction to the subject at hand. I presented you with facts and images. I tried to get you to view all the relevant information to see if in part or cumulatively they would inspire you to make a change within yourself or to reach out and help someone you know.
I also wanted to show you just how much your own mind plays in the decisions you make. For example, did you notice what information gave you a reaction and what didn’t? Did the images have a greater effect than the facts or vice versa?
All these reactions are triggered subconsciously and that is where hypnosis can play a huge part in quitting smoking, resolving your alcohol issues and helping you to remove your dependency on drugs.
Hypnosis focuses on delivering positive messaging to the subconscious to strengthen your natural resolve, it programs your mind to dislike the smoke, the taste or smell of alcohol and to decide not to partake in recreational or dependent drug use.
The power of the mind can be the single part of the equation that helps you defeat or succumb to excessive drinking or alcohol or drug dependency. It can choose to smoke a cigarette or throw one away. It subconsciously moves us through the day without us consciously realising this in our moment to moment activity.
If the mind is this powerful, this connected in everything we do, then you should seriously consider the impact of subconscious programming to help defend against the temptations of drinking smoking and taking drugs.
Stoptober Gosober quit drugs, I say be pragmatic and give yourself or a loved one the best chance they have to quit and make Stoptober through hypnosis, the month you really forget.
Aaron Surtees of City Hypnosis London, a leading Hypnotherapy Practice, has achieved consistent long-term success treating his clients over the past 15 years. Having a 90% success rate across all treatments in 1-2-1 sessions or by using his internationally recognised mp3 downloads.
If you have a question regarding drinking, smoking and drug addiction success rates, please call City Hypnosis London or email us here.
