IN A FIRST for South Africa, a local medical aid scheme is offering members looking to stop smoking the option of hypnosis.
According to the World Health Organisation smoking will have caused more deaths than HIV, TB, maternal mortality, car accidents, suicide and murder combined by 2020.
In a bid to fight the war on smoking Brian Watson of Genesis Medical Scheme said the company was introducing the option which has a 90.6% success rate.
In a press statement Watson said nearly six million people around the world died of tobacco related illnesses each year and more than 44000 of these were South Africans.
“Kicking the habit is extremely hard for smokers and providing members with the access to this form of treatment gives them the support they need to lead a healthier lifestyle,” he said.
Watson said because smoking affected nearly every organ in the body, smokers were more likely to develop chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease, burdening the healthcare system and medical aid providers.
“We advise that members and others make use of a qualified hypnosis practitioner who is registered with The South African Institute of Hypnotherapy.
“The use of an unregistered hypnotist can do more harm than good and the cost of such treatment will also not be covered from the member’s medical savings account,” Watson said.
He added that statistics showed that a typical smoker lost about 25 years of their life expectancy which results in premature death. “Each packet of cigarettes shaves approximately 28 minutes off a smoker’s life and even if they do quit smoking, only after about 15 years can the health risks be compared with that of a non-smoker,” he said, adding that other benefits of quitting can be seen in the costs of life insurance premiums for non-smokers.
It is not yet clear if other medical aid schemes will follow suit.
Candice Smith, divisional manager at Discovery Vitality Wellness said: “Hypnosis therapy is not part of our current smoking cessation programme.
“We are constantly investigating the latest evidence on smoking cessation – working with global experts in the field of behaviour change.”
One of only 11 hypnotists across the country approved by Genesis, Nicalene Coutts, explained to the Daily Dispatch how hypnosis would work.
She said because hypnosis put a person in a relaxed state, it allowed the hypnotist to over-ride the conscious mind and access the subconscious mind.
That made it easier for people to quit without cravings and difficulty.
“It strengthens their will power and motivation,” she said.
Coutts said the conscious mind was the “trying mind”. But trying to stop smoking needed to be supported by the belief system of the subconscious mind.
“If not, the person will only achieve the opposite because their conscious will be trying to do something in direct conflict with their subconscious,” she explained.
Coutts said she usually advised clients to undergo a minimum of three sessions and charged R500 a session.
“If there are emotional issues underlying the reason why they smoke, I have to deal with those first,” said Coutts. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Entrancing aid for smokers trying to quit
According to the World Health Organisation smoking will have caused more deaths than HIV, TB, maternal mortality, car accidents, suicide and murder combined by 2020.
In a bid to fight the war on smoking Brian Watson of Genesis Medical Scheme said the company was introducing the option which has a 90.6% success rate.
In a press statement Watson said nearly six million people around the world died of tobacco related illnesses each year and more than 44000 of these were South Africans.
“Kicking the habit is extremely hard for smokers and providing members with the access to this form of treatment gives them the support they need to lead a healthier lifestyle,” he said.
Watson said because smoking affected nearly every organ in the body, smokers were more likely to develop chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease, burdening the healthcare system and medical aid providers.
“We advise that members and others make use of a qualified hypnosis practitioner who is registered with The South African Institute of Hypnotherapy.
“The use of an unregistered hypnotist can do more harm than good and the cost of such treatment will also not be covered from the member’s medical savings account,” Watson said.
He added that statistics showed that a typical smoker lost about 25 years of their life expectancy which results in premature death. “Each packet of cigarettes shaves approximately 28 minutes off a smoker’s life and even if they do quit smoking, only after about 15 years can the health risks be compared with that of a non-smoker,” he said, adding that other benefits of quitting can be seen in the costs of life insurance premiums for non-smokers.
It is not yet clear if other medical aid schemes will follow suit.
Candice Smith, divisional manager at Discovery Vitality Wellness said: “Hypnosis therapy is not part of our current smoking cessation programme.
“We are constantly investigating the latest evidence on smoking cessation – working with global experts in the field of behaviour change.”
One of only 11 hypnotists across the country approved by Genesis, Nicalene Coutts, explained to the Daily Dispatch how hypnosis would work.
She said because hypnosis put a person in a relaxed state, it allowed the hypnotist to over-ride the conscious mind and access the subconscious mind.
That made it easier for people to quit without cravings and difficulty.
“It strengthens their will power and motivation,” she said.
Coutts said the conscious mind was the “trying mind”. But trying to stop smoking needed to be supported by the belief system of the subconscious mind.
“If not, the person will only achieve the opposite because their conscious will be trying to do something in direct conflict with their subconscious,” she explained.
Coutts said she usually advised clients to undergo a minimum of three sessions and charged R500 a session.
“If there are emotional issues underlying the reason why they smoke, I have to deal with those first,” said Coutts. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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