Vaping, a very bad plague upon our society, started with a noble objective – create a way to stop smoking, or at least to replace smoking with a less harmful activity. What is has created, however, is a harmful alternative and a crisis among young people. I suppose the developers were trying to limit the tar and many of the seven thousand chemicals inhaled with cigarettes. (For our purposes here, I am assuming no ulterior motives on the part of the original inventors.) Unfortunately, they wed a whole new set of chemicals and a dangerous delivery system to the evil nicotine, which remained the key component to an e-cigarette attraction.
In effect, the creators of the e-cigarette provided one bad habit to replace another bad habit. If there is any health gain at all, it is certainly a limited one. So far, the daily habit monetary benefit is there – vaping is less expensive than smoking, but in time that price gap may close.
Nicotine still remains a seriously addictive toxin, and the vaper can up the dosage by purchasing extra-strength cartridges for his e-cigarette. If you have read the prior section on smoking, you will understand that to quit smoking, the nicotine addiction must be overcome. The second prong of hypnotherapy deals with reprogramming habits. Vaping comes with its own set of habits, many of which are similar to smoking.
The real tragedy to me is the growing epidemic of vaping among young people. It was initially sold as an idea to teens as a harmless, fun, maybe even cool, activity. Still, in many jurisdictions, there are no age restrictions on purchases such as those which apply to cigarettes. The lower costs also make the practice more readily available to youth. Then, on top of all that, the purveyors of vaping began flavoring the product, broadening the market. For teens, nicotine has been demonstrated to alter and damage brain development, but for teens as well as adults, the harm to health is staggering, and, in its own way, comparable to smoking.
Vaping has been linked to cancer. It is shown to damage the lungs, the heart, and the bladder. One dastardly ailment is known as popcorn lung, in which the smallest airways in the lungs are damaged, causing coughing and shortness of breath. Vaping increases heart attacks and alters the blood. It can damage the mouth, leading to gum and teeth problems. The combination of the vaporizer and the chemicals have been shown to damage skin, as well.
Friends and family are not immune to the hazards of vaping, either. As with second-hand smoke, second-hand vapor contains lead and other heavy metal particles that can harm those nearby.
The hypnotherapy process is very similar to the approach discussed with smoking. The hypnotherapist will need some background from the client on the vaping habit. The objective will be nailed down. One thing I will be looking for in particular is the vaper’s commitment to the process. The buy-in to quitting is essential to success. Most smokers seeking assistance are self-motivated. If the vaping client is a teen seeking help at a parent’s suggestion or demand, the self-will power necessary to sustain the effort, an effort that truly is not overly burdensome, may not be present.
Hypnotherapy will include steps to see the client weaned from the nicotine addiction, followed by behavioral changes to address the habits that accompany the practice. Finally, as with smoking, the client must deal with any fears he or she has. In the case of the vaper who uses e-cigarettes to end a tobacco habit, the therapist will work to prevent a return to smoking through hypnosis.