Does smoking cigarettes help with stress and anxiety?

Many people think that smoking helps when they are stressed or anxious. Is this true?

The answer is yes and no. Don’t know about you but that is not a very helpful answer. Let’s look at this in a bit more detail to understand it.

When you smoke a cigarette the nicotine in the cigarette causes the blood vessels to constrict. This interferes with the blood circulation and your blood pressure goes up. This in turn causes stress in your body so smoking adds additional stress to an already stressful situation. When you quit smoking cigarettes your circulation improves and your body […]

Electronic cigarettes Yes or No

Electronic cigarettes are becoming more and more acceptable these days as a way to reduce or quit smoking but I have some serious concerns about their use of them.
If you look at all the cases, there have been no proper studies on whether e-cigarettes are harmful or beneficial. The most common factor that I can see with e-cigarettes is that they use nicotine in the solution. Sure there are other mixes without nicotine, but most people are using nicotine mixes.
Before working as a hypnotherapist and becoming a quit-smoking expert, I worked as a crop scientist in the tobacco industry. This […]

Study finds tobacco taxes reduce smoking

Raising tobacco prices through taxes could help reduce tobacco consumption in low and middle-income countries, a study published in the Tobacco Control journal has found.

The study compared cigarette prices in 15 low and middle-income countries, including bidis (small, hand-rolled cigarettes in India and Bangladesh). They found large price differences – indicating opportunities to raise tobacco prices through tax adjustments.

A uniform high excise tax ensures a higher price for tobacco products and can reduce the range of tobacco prices available in countries. It’s been found that higher-priced tobacco products result in less tobacco consumption.

Key findings from the study are:
• The average […]

It’s Only Nicotine

I recently had a customer at Quit Smoking in 60 minutes in Capalaba who told me that she had given up smoking but chewed nicotine gum so that she stayed a non-smoker.
Whilst this is healthier than smoking cigarettes it still takes its toll on your life. Nicotine is a highly poisonous substance and it is only the heat of your body, which causes a molecular change that prevents the nicotine from killing you. It doesn’t make sense to introduce such a substance into your body.
Nicotine causes your blood vessels to constrict, by doing this it increases your blood pressure […]

Old Habits Die Hard

Smoking is a habit and not an addiction. It’s often a strong habit as it is often associated with fitting in and survival. Pavlov was a Russian psychologist that trained dogs by ringing a bell when he fed them. Eventually, he got to the stage where when he rang the bell, the dogs would salivate and expect food. You see, he trained them well.
As a smoker, this is exactly what you have done. You have trained yourself well to smoke with certain circumstances and triggers. You have trained yourself to smoke when you get stressed, drink alcohol, after meals etc. […]

What You Think Is What You Get

What you think is definitely what you get. I often see this when carrying out quit smoking at Quit Smoking in 60 Minutes, Capalaba.
As with all things, what you think can be positive and negative. It amazes me how the majority of clients think negatively when it comes to quitting smoking. Things such as; I’ll have cravings or I can’t deal with stress. If you do think like this, then it is highly likely you will have cravings or won’t be able to deal with stress. When you change the habit of smoking in the subconscious mind, there are usually […]

Your Smoking Supports Me

I recently had a woman who came to see me to quit smoking. She was prone to skin cancers and had decided to quit smoking. She quit by willpower and chose not to be around her husband when he smoked. Usually, they would go outside and talk and smoke together, but now she chose not to go outside with her husband and smoke.
Her husband had countered this strategy by saying that by not smoking with him, she was not supporting him; he said, “how can you give up smoking when I am so stressed”. The reality is that many of […]

Does Smoking affect your skin?

Are you a smoker with an “it won’t happen to me” mindset? If your health is not enough to stop you, is the price of your good looks?

It’s a fact — apart from sun damage, smoking ages the skin faster than anything else. So why are so many still lighting up?

Smoker’s face

Medical dictionaries coined the term in the ’60s to describe the ageing effect cigarette smoke has on the skin. Wrinkles, a grey, lifeless complexion and bony contours were the words used — surely enough to scare off any potential smokers? Apparently not: 27 per cent of Aussie women […]

Does Smoking affect your Sleep?

Smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products like cigars can affect your sleep in several ways. Smoking and sleep disturbance often go hand in hand with each other. All stimulants interfere with the body’s ability to fall and stay asleep.
It all has to do with the active ingredient, nicotine.

First, depending on your level of use and dependence, your desire for additional nicotine during your sleep may cause you to awaken and lead to insomnia. Nicotine itself is a stimulant, and the use of it too close to bedtime may also make it difficult for you to fall asleep. Dependency means […]

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