This may sound ridiculous and downright unbelievable. I know that only the rarest doctors would recommend a patient to start smoking and that the vast majority go out of their way to encourage patients to quit smoking.

But I have heard this story from clients several times, and listening twice in the last fortnight prompted me to write this article. This is quite different from the bad times when doctors routinely prescribed cigarettes to children and people of a nervous disposition.

This came from the lies of the tobacco companies who, it has been shown, simply bought from some doctors and were unaware of the real risks involved.

But we are in 2015, there is no ignorance and therefore there is no excuse. In one case, my client quit smoking and later developed a strange skin condition. its specialist He suggested it was related to his quitting and advised him to start smoking again.

When he came to me he had two problems. 1. He smoked and 2. He still had the condition of his skin. At least after hypnosis he only had to deal with the skin problem. In the naturopathic tradition, skin problems are often treated with herbs that clean the blood.

It is an old-fashioned concept, but the truth is that smoking does not clean the blood or anything else. It is obvious that cigarettes cannot help in any way.

The other recent client was advised to start smoking again due to anxiety. This would have been an understandable answer in the 1960s, but in this day and age it is simply laziness and unprofessional negligence.

Sure there are many smokers who use nicotine as a crutch to relieve their anxiety, I see them regularly in my clinic, but there are ways to help these people quit without stress. Certainly, there are many possible medical interventions, but it requires some time and effort on the part of the physician.

Perhaps those few doctors would be reminded of the “do no harm” oath.

In this day and age there is absolutely no logical reason for someone to smoke. It doesn’t relieve stress, it doesn’t help anyone lose weight, or any of the crazy reasons some people still believe sadly.

If you want to help yourself, just quit smoking, seek help with hypnosis, and it will be easier than you think. And if some crazy, lazy doctor advises you to smoke, just walk away, and you certainly wouldn’t pay for that advice.