Looking for hypnotist/smoking help

November 12, 2008 6:26 AM

Quit smoking filter: Can anyone recommend a hypnotist in the DC metro area to quit smoking?

I've tried Zyban, Chantix, patches, gum, cold turkey etc .... but nothing has worked as I climb the wall after day one no matter what I try. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Also wondering about the cost and any hypnotism success stories.

posted by gogomickey to health & fitness (4 comments total)

I went to a hypnotist in Takoma Park, but I am not going to give her name because the hypnosis did not work. What was it about Zyban and Chantix that prevented you from quitting? I have made my previous ordeal with quitting public here, but Chantix has ultimately worked for me.

When you were on Chantix, did you have the thing where you smoked more than ever on the third or fourth day you were on and then you quit? That's normal, it's a bump, and it goes away. Anyway, tell me why?
posted by parmanparman at 6:57 AM on November 12, 2008

Not in the DC area, but if you take a trip to Boston, people say great things about the Mad Russian...
posted by General Malaise at 11:28 AM on November 12, 2008

I have a friend who just went to see the "Mad Russian"... she's back to smoking just like everyone else I know who saw a hypnotist.

Before I started smoking, the most common thing I heard was "its a bad habit". Now that I do, I found that to be the biggest truth. Its a habit. Its just as mindless, harmful and automatic as biting your nails, swearing, eating junk food, or most other bad habits. Only, the chemical addiction kicks it up a notch.

I quit for 6 months. I'm no role model, cause I started back up again, but here's what helped me for when I did quit:

Break the habits. Figure out when you smoke (after dinner? at the bar with friends? at 11:30 every day? Whenever you see someone else smoke?) Tackle each one of these "trigger events" at a time, and don't worry about quitting for good. Worry about quitting *that cigarette*. Take it one craving at a time.

Commit. Tell people you're going to quit smoking after lunch. When you kick that, tell the friends you smoke with you're going to stop smoking around them. Ask them to call you on it when you ask to bum "just one" (because you will). If you keep a pack on you at all times, leave it at home, or carry around an empty pack with a giant label on it: "YOU QUIT, REMEMBER?". Above all, DON'T CHEAT. You're only cheating yourself.

When you have a craving, find a distraction. Your autopilot is just telling you "hey, I usually go get a cigarette now... lets do that", but over and over again. Humans are habitual creatures. Its comforting. Distract your autopilot with running, or video games, or do laundry. When you can go a month without smoking after your biggest triggers, you're at the home stretch.

Quit for you. People aren't helpless, they're just used to instant cures. Hypnotism is more or less a motivational speech; a placebo. You're still the one doing the quitting. You should at least give yourself some credit.

Think of how good it'll feel in a month to say "wow... it's been a month!"
posted by ninjuhplease at 1:17 PM on November 12, 2008

Three days ago, after 25 years of smoking, I went from smoking a little over a pack a day down to having about 2 or 3 cigarettes daily. I read the Allen Carr book, and while it didn't work for me the way it supposedly has for many (in other words, I didn't just suddenly become a happy non-smoker*), I do feel that it helped prepare me mentally for dealing with the cravings. Also, according to the folks I work with, I don't seem overly irritable or short tempered or anything like that.

* I'll admit that I probably spent too much time analyzing the methodology of what he was doing and not enough just "getting it". I intend to give it another read next week.
posted by JaredSeth at 2:07 PM on November 12, 2008