Side effects to stopping smoking by willpower alone - Anxiety
What to expect if you stop smoking by willpower alone
Many people who stop smoking by willpower alone, often find that they experience tension and anxiety for a while after quitting smoking. They may have a short temper with those around them, and they may experience mood swings.
When to expect it
If you stop smoking by willpower alone, this can happen anytime when within the first few weeks after quitting smoking, it is much more like to appear within the first 24 to 48 hours.
Why does it happen?
Those who stop smoking by willpower alone, will often feel that they have given up something that was a large part of their life before they stopped smoking. They can feel that they have made a sacrifice in giving up smoking, and therefore can become agitated and anxious due to their 'loss'.
There is also the fact that often people use smoking as a ‘crutch’… one that they use to keep themselves calm in anxious situations (satisfying their 'oral compulsion'). Without this 'crutch' the person who has stopped smoking by willpower alone can become frustrated that one avenue of calming themselves down has been taken away from them.
What you do to help yourself
For those who are struggling to cope with getting through quitting smoking, it just means that you are suffering from what's known as 'cognitive dissonance' - a psychological term that put simply means that one part of your mind has consciously decided to stop smoking, but your subconscious mind still wants that 'crutch'. There are two ways of tackling this...
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The first way, is to try to occupy the conscious part of the mind, until nature takes it's course, and this 'cognitive dissonance' dissolves. In the mean time, take a break from whatever you are doing.. do whatever works for you.. take a walk… have a bath or shower… take some deep breaths, or, if you can, practice some sort of self-relaxation procedure.
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Secondly, you could consider a session of stop smoking hypnotherapy with me! - See below for an explanation of why this will help.
Why my clients find it easier
The 'need' to smoke comes from the individual's subconscious mind, weighing up the benefits of smoking, against the benefits of not smoking.
The stop smoking hypnotherapy session sets about to change the subconscious balance, so that the person has no desire to smoke, because their subconscious mind finds that the benefits of not smoking, greatly outweigh the 'benefits' of smoking.
When this process happens, the mechanisms supporting these 'withdrawal symptoms' are no longer there.
Don't Be Afraid To Ask.... I'm Here to Help!
If you'd like any more information about anything that I talk about on my website, don't be afraid to ask... get in touch, and I'll get back to you as soon as I possibly can! :O)
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