Ok, ok, I had to share this story with you… I have not had a packet of Scampi Fries in years… Apparently, this chap went to see a hypnotist to stop smoking and ended up being addicted to the zesty, fishy, rather acquired taste of scampi fries… It sounds hilarious, thouh I had better take things seriously, hadn’t I?

Ok, let me explain…

This hypnosis article in the Daily Star states:

DESPERATE Darren Corbett is fuming after a hypnotist stopped him smoking – but left him hooked on Scampi Fries.

Darren, 43, has kicked his cigarette habit but now chomps his way through 20 packets of the fishy snacks every day.

Now he reckons his breath smells worse than it did when he was hooked on fags – and his new habit costs twice as much money.

“I don’t know which is the lesser of two evils,” he said. “I used to chain-smoke and knew I had to quit. Since undergoing the hypnosis I haven’t even thought about having a fag. But I’m eating my way through a factory full of Scampi Fries.”

Now the tormented tiler is heading back to mindbender David Knight to be weaned off the snack.

“I don’t know what it is about them,” he said. “They have a great taste, but they really whiff and I’m spending 11 quid a day on them!”

Darren, from Keighley, West Yorks, added: “For ages I’ve been saying I would do anything to quit smoking but this might be pushing it. When my mates nip outside the pub for a smoke I sit inside munching. It’s madness.’’

Hypnotist David said: “Darren is particularly susceptible to hypnotic suggestion so I am not surprised giving up smoking was a success.

“But the next time I see him I can perhaps put in his mind that he should choose something a little more healthy to satisfy his cravings — maybe an apple or tomato.’’

You an also read about this hypnosis story here in the Metro, because it states this:

‘When my mates go outside for a smoke, I sit inside and munch,’ said the tiler from Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Mr Corbett picked up his new vice after a hypnotist at his local pub cured him of his 30-a-day habit.

David Knight helped Mr Corbett quit as a thank-you for being such a good subject during his stage performances.

Mr Corbett did a convincing impression of a washing machine and became unhealthily attracted to a bar stool.

Hmmm… Ok, so the chap is a good hypnotic subject according to the hypnotist… Do we really think we need to satisfy his cravings by replacing on thing with another? He needs to be in control of his own mind, not just switch his compulsion on to something else, doesn’t he?!

If he is spending 11 pounds a day on them, he must be eating 15-20 packets a day… Blimey, he really must whiff, those things smell incredibly strong!

The thing to note is that he ued to chain-smoke and now he is compulsively eating… There is a behaviour pattern here that needs to be highlighted. Probably, there is a better therapeutic approach than simply using hypnosis for suggestion while down the pub!

Maybe (just maybe?) employing some longer, deeper methdology that is going to help him develop as a person and not just move from one thing to the next…

Though, there is nothing to suggest in any of the articles that the hypnosis was anything to do with the Scampiu fries… Surely the hypnotist did not suggest that he eat them instead of smoking?