How can you help a loved one who is trying to quit smoking?

1. 61

   alexandriaruthkposted 12 years ago

   How can you help a loved one who is trying to quit smoking?
   
   Words of encouragement, what else?

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2. 79

   Diana Leeposted 12 years ago

   It helps to keep your hands busy when trying to stop smoking. Perhaps sharing a hobby activity would be keep your friend away from indulging in tobacco.

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3. 61

   wjack2010posted 12 years ago

   There are MANY things, sometimes, a good old "trick" can work, like putting something on the end of some cigarettes that aren't harmful, but will make you jump when lit. Or, you could buy those harmless cigarettes from the chemist, and swap them, so in actual fact, it is helping stop them smoke instead of encouraging them.
   
   Be creative.

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4. 75

   KevinC9998posted 12 years ago

   I found the best way is to change your daily routine. Do things you would normally not do, like walking for example. Besides the physical addiction much of it is also mind-over-matter but it can be done!  I did it!

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5. 0

   3cardmonteposted 12 years ago

   If you smoke then don't smoke around them. recognise their times of weakness (many people smoke after a drink as willpower is lowest when you're drunk) and understand when they get moody that it is not TECHNICALLY their fault!

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6. 64

   Sapperposted 12 years ago

   I can say from experience, at least for me, words of encouragement do nothing.
   
   The only way someone can quit smoking is if they truly want to quit. If they are quitting to save money, or some other weak excuse like that, more often then not it's not going to stick. I've been smoking for 16 years, and I've "quit" several times. Sometimes it only lasts a few hours, one time 4 months, but the end result is always the same. Quitting for a reason other then you don't want to smoke anymore will usually end with you still smoking. The last time my wife and I tried quitting, it was to save money. After a month we had a big pile of money, they are expensive in Alaska, and to celebrate we went out and bought a pack. Not the best choice, but with how bad our tempers were getting it was a need one.
   
   The point I'm getting at here is there are plenty of things you can do to make it worse, but what it all comes down to is there is nothing you can do to make it easier.

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7. 72

   d.williamposted 12 years ago

   Other than encouragement, there is little or nothing you can do to help someone else quit smoking. 
   The best advice you can give to help make the person who is trying to stop smoking is to tell them to not think of themselves as "trying to quit smoking", but rather to refer to themselves as "I don't smoke" or "I am a non smoker".   This gives the person a positive, self affirmation as to intent, and it is positive and uplifting to refer to one's self as already reaching their goal;  If that is their true goal, then they will already have achieved it.
   The physical cravings will abate within a couple of weeks, but that should never deter that person from having already reached their goal to becoming a non smoker. .
   I smoked for 40 years, (as i coughed, hacked and wheezed throughout each and every day and night) and one day i thought to myself:  this is really a stupid and unhealthy habit, so i crushed the remaining cigs in the pack and threw them away, and from that day on, i considered myself a non-smoker. 
   The physical withdrawal was hard at times for the first month, but i have never known anyone to die from lack of cigarette smoke and  have not had one day of regret since i threw those cigs in the trash and i am healthier now than when i smoked.

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8. 80

   starbrightposted 12 years ago

   I'm absolutely in agreement with almost everything that's been said already. It just all depends on the depth of commitment being made by the person wanting to stop smoking. If there's no sincere wish to stop - then no amount of support, talk or even help - is going to do any good at all. All anyone can do is be there and offer understanding and encouragement.
   
   Been there and done it and have many, many T-shirts to prove it! It's not easy, but when push comes to crunch - stopping is the right and only choice.

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