A woman who spent £25 a week drinking 7 pints of Diet Coke everyday for 7 years has finally kicked her fizzy habit after seeking hypnotherapy.

Claire Ayton, 36, piled on 3 stone during her 7-year Coke binge. After feeling tired all of the time, the mother of 2 went to her GP for a check-up. She neglected to inform the GP of her £1,300 per year addiction and her blood test results came back normal.

”People used to comment how many bottles of diet pop we bought at the supermarket or kept in the house,” Claire said, ”I never thought Diet Coke could be the cause of my problems because it was a diet drink.”

The worried special-needs assistant tried a number of different weight-loss methods, including Weight Watchers and Slimming World. Nothing worked until she decided to consult hypnotherapist Russell Hemming.

Hemming recognised the problem immediately and told her she was a fizzy drink addict. Claire’s body had begun to crave sweetener, namely Aspartemine, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar.

Claire immediately gave up Diet Coke with the help of Hemming, but not before suffering headaches and fatigue from going ‘cold turkey’.

Now she goes to Zumba and Boxercise twice a week and substitutes Diet Coke for water with a chunk of orange.

Claire has already lost 5lbs and hopes to lose over 2 stone. She plans to spend the £1,300 of diet coke money on a family holiday next summer.

Some experts claim that diet drinks can make you gain weight and instead advise you to drink water whenever possible.

Hypnotherapist Russell Hemming says that he has created a successful combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and clinical hypnotherapy which works towards changing the way people focus on food.

If you would like to beat an addiction and would like to find out more about what hypnotherapy can offer, please feel free to look at our Hypnotherapy Areas section for more information. 

View or comment on the original Telegraph article here.

In a bid to encourage service men and women to come forward if they fear they may be suffering from a mental health concern, the Ministry of Defence has launched a campaign in the hope of spreading awareness and reducing stigma.

The ‘Don’t bottle it up’ scheme is aimed at reducing some of the stigma surrounding mental health concerns among those in the armed forces.

The advertising campaign itself is to be shown on the British Forces Broadcasting Service, and shows a soldier who is trapped inside a bottle and is pounding on the glass walls in an attempt to break free.

The campaign hopes that it will send a message to servicemen and women not to feel ashamed of their mental health problems, and wants to encourage them to come forward and seek help.

Combat Stress, a mental health charity dedicated to helping war veterans and servicemen and women, have also recently launched an awareness campaign. The campaign comes as a response to research conducted by the charity, which revealed that 85% of veterans and their families feel ashamed or embarrassed about having a mental health problem.

According to the charities estimations, around 25% of the 200,000 men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan could be suffering from some form of mental health condition.

Many servicemen and women develop a condition known as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A condition that see’s the sufferer relive harrowing experiences through flashbacks and vivid dreams among other symptoms.

If you do believe you may be suffering from PTSD then your first port of call should be to your healthcare provider, who will be able to diagnose your condition and recommend appropriate treatment interventions. Some sufferers also find hypnotherapy to be of great benefit, and if you would like to find out more about how this form of treatment may be able to help you, please visit our hypnotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) fact-sheet to find out more.

View and comment on the original BBC News article here.

A new Channel 4 programme called “The Experiment” sees controversial magician Derren Brown performing his most shocking, dramatic work to date.

In 1 of 4 separate social experiments, Brown looks at testimonies given by political assassins who claimed they were brainwashed by the CIA. To see if the claims were ever viable, he plans to try it himself. “The Assassin” will see Brown attempting to hypnotise a volunteer to carry out their very own assassination.

Presumably as a small break from getting his subjects to kill each other, 1 of the 4 experiments will be, as the magician claims, “rather positive and jolly”.

Brown is infamous for his controversial and truly astounding live-television stunts. In “The Heist” the magician used various techniques to manipulate a group of participants to brandish replica guns and rob a security van in broad daylight.

“The Experiment”, which promises to be just as captivating as his previous shows, airs on Channel 4 on October 21.

Derren Brown uses a combination of manipulation techniques, hypnotism, trickery and showmanship throughout his performances. His work is solely for the purpose of entertainment and is not related to hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy uses the power of suggestion to help with a number of health problems such as battling addiction or dealing with stress. If you would like to find out more about the benefits of hypnotherapy, please feel free to visit our FAQ page

View the original Music Rooms article here.

According to recent figures, the number of individuals receiving referrals for sleep disorders in Scotland has increased by a quarter in the past three years, with approximately 80% of those being referred overweight.

Obese and overweight individuals often suffer from the sleep disorder, sleep apnoea, a condition which involves the shape of the throat and the airway. Excess weight around the neck can cause or worsen the condition as sufferers airways are sucked closed when they relax during sleep, causing breathing to halt so sufferers wake constantly throughout the night.

28st Diana MacLean from Dumfrieshire was diagnosed with the condition after she stopped breathing during a hospital stay. After waking up in an intensive care unit and eventually being discharged with continuous positive airway pressure, Diane decided it was time for a change and has since lost 13st during the past year. Since her dramatic weight loss, Diane’s sleep apnoea has disappeared and she is able to sleep soundly throughout the night.

Tom Mackay is a sleep disorder expert at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and has reported what he describes as a ‘tidal wave’ of cases.

“Over the past five to 10 years we have noticed quite a rise in the number of people being referred to us.

“We are reaching capacity in terms of what we can cope with, and there is an undoubted link with people’s weight.” He said.

Dr Mackay is urging those who believe they may be suffering from a sleep disorder to visit their GP and undergo proper assessment and diagnosis so that they can then receive treatment.

Excess weight can be a key contributor in sleeps issues, so achieving a healthy weight is highly recommended. If you are overweight and are struggling to shed unwanted pounds then you may require some extra support. Hypnotherapy for weight loss, and gastric band hypnotherapy have proven successful alternative treatment options for many individuals, so if you would like to find out more about how they could help you, please visit their respective fact sheets.

View and comment on the original BBC News article.

The beginning of October sees the launch of a new ban on vending machines selling cigarettes in England.

The ban was encouraged by UK heart charity The British Heart Foundation after it emerged that 1 out of every 10 underage smokers will obtain their cigarettes from a vending machine.

Betty McBride, policy director at the BHF, said: “Shopkeepers should be aware that more children could try to buy cigarettes over the counter now. They’ll need to do their bit to protect our children’s health by asking for proof of age – that’s the whole point of the vending machine ban.”

The vast majority of cigarette vending machines are located in licensed venues such as pubs and bars- so in theory, they should be inaccessible to under 18s. The problem is that the machines are often hidden away in unsupervised corridors or dark corners, which means that underage smokers can slip by quite easily without being noticed.

McBride insists the ban is a good idea that will, in the long run, make it more difficult for newer generations to obtain cigarettes. Smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease and kills approximately 1million people a year in the UK.

During the passing of the ban in parliament this June, owner of 200,000 vending machines Sinclair Collins attempted to argue that to ban them would be a breach of EU free trade rules due to the inconsistency of still allowing over-the-counter sales.

Eventually the appeal court-judges voted 2-1 and the ban came into action last Saturday 1^st October.

A spokesman for the Association of Convenience Stores stated that no specific action has been taken to warn shopkeepers of the increase in underage smokers attempting to buy cigarettes, however, many retailers have been upping their security for a number of years by instigating stricter ID rules.

If you or your child would like to stop smoking, hypnotherapy is a viable option. Addictions can be cured through the power of suggestion. If you would like to consult a hypnotherapist near you, then please use the search tool on our homepage. If you would like more advice and information on how hypnotherapy can help you quit smoking, then please view our page on Quitting Smoking.

View the original Telegraph article

The NHS, American Dietetic Association and British Dietetic Association have all long since preached to dieters that cutting 500 calories per day could mean a loss of 1Ib per week, but new US research has revealed a flaw in this calculation.

This general rule, which tends to be what most dieters adhere to means that if you stick at it for a period of 12 months, you can expect to loose around 52Ibs. However, according to a study which has been published in health journal ‘The Lancet’, it takes much longer to lose this amount of weight – approximately three years.

The US researchers have said that the calculation used to work out this figure is fundamentally flawed as it fails to take into consideration the changes in the metabolism which occur as we diet.

Researchers have also said that the reason so many individuals fall back into old habits and regain their weight is because they have unrealistic expectations about weight loss which are almost impossible to achieve.

Research looking into outpatient weight loss programmes has shown that the vast majority of dieters reach their peak at around six months, after which weight loss slows or the weight begins to creep back on again.

At this point, many people believe the regain is due to the metabolism getting used to having less food and slowing, so they assume their eating programme is no longer working and slip back into old habits.

If you are one of the estimated 50 – 80% of dieters who have managed to shed pounds only to put them back on again then it may be you require some extra support. Hypnotherapy for weight loss can help individuals to understand their attitude towards food and will help to establish new and more positive eating habits. If you would like to find out more about how hypnotherapy could help you to lose weight, please visit our fact-sheets on weight loss hypnotherapy and gastric band hypnotherapy for more information. 

View the original BBC News article.

September to October is infamously known as Spider Season, with an unusual abundance of large black house spiders scuttling about our homes. How will the two-thirds of all Britons terrified of these eight-legged creatures cope?

Autumn 2011 has seen the biggest influx of spiders creeping about UK houses in recent years. This is due to the particularly warm spring that encouraged an influx of pollen, and in turn encouraged an influx of insects- or in other words, spider food.

With all the extra grubs to gorge themselves on, spider numbers have increased. The females start to wonder into our homes when the weather gets colder and they need a warm dark crevice to huddle up in. They find refuge in our cupboards, behind furniture and under floorboards.

Males appear soon after, following a pheromone trail in order to locate the lurking females. This is why we often find large spiders scuttling around in the open.

Once the male has mated with the female, usually by the end of October, the female spider will eat him. If she doesn’t, the male will tend to lose interest in food and slowly starve to death. This is due to the idea that male spiders are solely programmed to reproduce.

UK house spiders can be very big, with some reaching a 5inch leg-span. According to a recent study, the biggest phobia in the UK is arachnophobia- the fear of spiders.  For many Britons, autumn can be a hair-raising period.

Spider expert Steve Dickie puts the fear down to their strange appearance and unpredictable nature: “Spiders can move very quickly and some spiders jump, so some people start panicking because it is so alien to them.”

If you find a spider in your house, it is advisable to capture it with a glass and a card, and release it outside. UK spiders cannot seriously hurt humans as their jaws are not strong enough to bite through our relatively tough skin.

If you have arachnophobia and would like to do something about it, you may wish to consider hypnotherapy. To find out more about what hypnotherapy can do for phobias, or to locate a hypnotherapist near you, please visit the Hypnotherapy Directory.

View original article at Yorkshire Evening Post.

Today a team of European pain experts issued an official report urging governments to take stronger measures towards preventing chronic pain and treating the 146.6 million Europeans who suffer from it.

The OPENMinds report underlines the necessity of addressing chronic pain urgently.

Every year chronic back pain alone costs the British economy a staggering £12.3 billion. Costs are incurred from employee absenteeism, disability benefits and costs of medication on the National Health Service.

Experts are troubled by the sheer volume of people suffering from chronic pain in communities across the UK. Research carried out in 2003 shows that 1/3 of all sufferers have been left untreated.

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for weeks, months and sometimes years. It can drastically reduce the quality of an individual’s life and lead to other problematic conditions such as depression.

Professional members of OPENMinds believe that chronic pain is often disregarded or misdiagnosed due to a lack of knowledge or understanding about the condition. The report demands that, among other strategies, efforts should be made by governments to educate both health professionals and the general public on the nature and effects of chronic pain.

Access to pain relief is a human right recognized by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Human Rights Watch. OPENMinds urges this factor to be taken into account by governments to encourage prioritisation.

Consultant in Pain Medicine and Director of the Analgesics and Pain Research unit, Dr Magdi Hanna, said: “by implementing our recommendations, national governments will be taking a step towards reducing human suffering and reducing the massive strain on costs linked to uncontrolled chronic pain.”

People suffering from chronic pain usually try a variety of treatments only to find that nothing works. Hypnotherapy can effectively reduce symptoms of chronic pain and relieve associated stress with relaxation techniques. If you are interested in talking to a hypnotherapist, please visit the Hypnotherapy Directory.  

View original article at Medical News Today

According to research carried out by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, children who sleep for between nine and eleven hours each night are likely to be better learners than peers who receive less sleep.

The study revealed that children who had less than nine hours sleep stood a higher risk of struggling at school compared to their peers who had received nine hours plus shut eye.

According to the results, less than nine hours sleep and a lack of routine at bedtime were linked to memory, motivation and learning issues. Some individuals also displayed language and writing problems which were believed to have been related to sleep disruptions.

The researchers who conducted the study have suggested that parents should try to be more aware of the significance of making sure their children are getting a good amount of sleep and are in a good bedtime routine.

This is not the only study to reveal links between children’s behaviour and their sleeping patterns, with research from the University of Michigan in the US publishing details only earlier this year stating that a large percentage of children who are ‘bullies’ and ‘aggressive’ at school are far more likely to be children who either have sleep disorders or who do not get what is considered to be a sufficient amount of sleep.

An additional study which was conducted in Finland and involved studying a group of seven and eight year olds, found that the behaviour of children who were deprived of sleep shared many similarities with the behaviour associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

If you are concerned that your child may be suffering from a sleep disorder then your first port of call should be your health care provider/GP, who will be able to provide you with the appropriate medical advice. In addition, you may also find that hypnotherapy for sleep disorders could be of benefit if implemented as part of a balanced treatment plan including a good bedtime routine.

View the original BBC News article.

According to recent figures obtained by BBC Newsbeat, the number of under-25s undergoing gastric band procedures to help them lose weight has quadrupled in just three years.

The figures cover those who have undergone stomach stapling, a gastric bypass operation or those who have been fitted with a gastric band.

Between 2009 and 2010, 210 under 25-year olds underwent one of the above operations, a significant increase compared to the 55 individuals who had one of these operations between 2006 and 2007.

Of the 210 individuals who had the surgery between 2009 and 2010, 34 were as young as 15, a very young age to undergo what is described as a ‘life-changing’ procedure by eating disorder charity Beat.

GPs and eating disorder charities alike are expressing concerns over the increase, and are worried that in a large percentage of these cases, young people are not actually receiving adequate post surgery support.

Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorder charity Beat, commented that having a gastric band procedure can result in serious long-term consequences, but often young people who are considering the operation to help them lose weight are not given all of the facts. In addition, Beat also commented that many patients aren’t receiving proper aftercare to help them to adjust to the change in their diet.

The charity believes that it is not only the physical changes an individual will have to adjust to, but also the emotional ones, with some patients becoming more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

NHS psychiatrist Dr Samantha Scholtz has admitted she finds aftercare for gastric band surgery patients to be ‘patchy’ across the NHS and has recommended some form psychological intervention for each patient.

If you are overweight and are considering a gastric band procedure then it may be worth considering Gastric Band Hypnotherapy as an option. This procedure has been found to be effective in many cases, but unlike the surgical procedure is non-invasive, has no recovery time and no side effects. If you would like to find out more about how it works, please visit our Gastric Band Hypnotherapy fact-sheet for further information.