Smoking is a serious addiction that kills about 400,000 people per year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. If someone you love has decided to quit smoking, you naturally want to do everything in your power to help him succeed. A solid support system is one of the necessary components to successfully quitting smoking. Though ultimately, the person must quit smoking by himself, your support can go a long way toward helping him reach his goal.
Smoking is a serious addiction that kills about 400,000 people per year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. If someone you love has decided to quit smoking, you naturally want to do everything in your power to help him succeed. A solid support system is one of the necessary components to successfully quitting smoking. Though ultimately, the person must quit smoking by himself, your support can go a long way toward helping him reach his goal.
Step 1
Share your smoking story. Hearing stories about others quitting can help your friend quit smoking. If you’ve quit or if you’ve known someone who quit, tell the story. Details about how you did it could help her find the way that’s going to work for her.
Step 2
Ask him what kind of support he wants from you. Everyone is different and requires different means of support while trying to quit smoking. For example, one person may want you to offer frequent reminders about not smoking, while another person may see that as nagging. Your friend may want you to lend a sympathetic ear, distract him or give him rewards as he passes milestones. Try to be the kind of support that he needs you to be.
Step 3
Plan smoke-free activities for the two of you to do. Distracting your friend can go a long way toward ensuring success. If you would usually hit the bars for happy hour on a Friday night, where your friend would chain-smoke while she drinks, plan a different activity. Find something where the temptation to smoke will be small.
Step 4
Help him change his routines. Smokers must tackle both physical and mental addictions to tobacco. There are certain times of the day–such as after meals or with coffee–that just seem to go with smoking. You need to help him overcome these hurdles. For example, you could go for a walk together after dinner to discourage him from smoking.
Step 5
Offer encouragement and rewards along the way. Congratulate her on another smoke-free day and comment on how great she’s looking since she quit. Try to pick up on small details. Plan some type of reward with her for quitting smoking. For example, she could take the money that she would have spent on cigarettes and spend it on a weekend getaway.
Warnings
- Many fail the first time they try to quit. Offer your support even when your friend has a relapse, but encourage him to try to quit again.
- You cannot make someone quit smoking if she is not ready to quit.
Photo Credit
- cigarette image by Wasim from Fotolia.com
