The news that smoking could be banned in some new council homes in a bid to protect the health of children, along with the fact that more people are vaping instead of using cigarettes is good for the anti-smoking lobby. But there are still nine million people who smoke in the UK despite a big rise in e-cigarette use.
Research shows that more than half of the UK’s electronic-cigarette users have since given up smoking tobacco but more than a third of smokers have still never tried e-cigarettes, as a result of concerns about the safety and addictiveness of e-cigarettes.
Beyond that, research also suggests that 26% of people think e-cigarettes are more – or equally as – harmful as smoking tobacco while only 13% believe they are a lot less harmful, the BBC reported.
And while many people still want to kick the habit, there is non-invasive treatment like clinical hypnotherapy which has a proven track record in helping people kick the habit and statistics show that hypnotherapy is three times more likely to succeed than using nicotine patches or other methods.
But smoking is still seen as being unhealthy and anti-social with a UK public health expert saying that under the council home proposal, tenants would be asked to sign an agreement not to light up inside their home.
President of the Faculty of Public Health, Professor John Middleton, told the BBC that some councils and housing associations are already exploring the smoke-free housing idea. He added that the agreement would be voluntary rather than mandatory, although it would be part of the tenancy contract for new family housing.
He says there would be tenants who would prefer to live in a non-smoking block, particularly if they have children. Second-hand smoke harms children’s lungs, he said, and has been linked to an increased risk of cot death in babies.
“We are not saying people can’t smoke or that they have to give up smoking. The voluntary agreement would be that they have to smoke outside.”
The US has decided to go a step further and insist all public housing agencies provide smoke-free environments for their residents by the end of July 2018, which It will means no-one can smoke inside or within 25 feet of the homes. A ban on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars, was introduced in England in 2007.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy says dealing with problem behaviours is a major part of a therapist’s regime and the body defines this as an unwanted habit or addiction, something over which people often feel they have no control but which affects their lives and the lives of those they care about.
“Habits such as overeating or smoking are the most common, but there are many other behaviours that affect people’s lives, make them unhappy or cause a risk to their health and the health of those around them,” says the NCH.
“If you have an unwanted habit or behaviour, it may often feel as if you are out of control, that there is someone else or something inside of you that is making you do this.
“The good news is that you are in control, you can change how you react to certain situations, and you can protect yourself in ways that are healthy and which allow you succeed and grow stronger in body and mind. You just need to know how to change it, and to believe you can,” says the NCH.
“The reason why hypnotherapy works so rapidly with bad habits and behaviours is because it works directly with your subconscious, bypassing the critical mind and getting to the root of the issue so that changes can be made that support your goals quickly and efficiently.
With almost 2,000 therapists across the UK, the NCH can easily help people give up smoking. All you have to do is look up a registered hypnotherapist near you by using the NCH directory and your smoking habit could be a thing of the past.