Day one – the first hypnosis session

I’m sitting in a blanket-covered chair in a central London office. Outside, it’s lightly snowing but I’m deeply absorbed in the sound of waves being played through my headphones. There’s a man’s voice talking; I’m vaguely aware of what he’s saying, but I can’t quite grasp the meaning. The voice belongs to hypnotherapist Aaron Surtees, director of City Hypnosis. I don’t know whether to open my eyes to see what’s going on (I decide not to) and I’m feeling quite sceptical about the whole thing: it seems unlikely that listening to someone blather on could make me quit what I’d deemed quite a serious dependency. But, I’ve promised my editor a feature on it, so I keep my eyes shut and embrace the situation.

After what feels like 10 minutes, it’s all over. However, Surtees reveals that he’s been talking to me for over 40 minutes, and even though I spent all that time relaxing, my brain is whirring with thoughts that are just a little out of reach.

I leave the clinic feeling slightly dumbfounded and head to M&S, where I look at the fridge of rainbow-coloured drinks… before walking right past.

“I’d start the day with a can at breakfast”: here’s what happened when a fizzy drink addict was hypnotised