Whether you have experience with smoking or not, it is widely acknowledged that quitting such a habit is one of the hardest things someone can go through in their life. This is since lots of people come to rely on smoking as a way of relieving stress from their busy lives, where they then become reliant on the nicotine that is present in every cigarette. When someone in your life tries to quit smoking, they will need help from their closest friends and family to get them through the rough patches and slip-ups, and to encourage them to quit for good. Being a source of support for someone can be difficult, but there are many ways you can help.
Be there for them
Ultimately, people usually start smoking to relieve stress from their lives. This means that quitting smoking means they will need other outlets for this stress, such as learning how to talk to people around them. This is where your shoulder may be needed during times when they need to smoke but can’t, as there will be many difficult emotions running through their heads. It helps if you have previously smoked before and have been able to quit, as you will be able to understand what they are going through and reassure them that quitting is possible.
Offer them nicotine replacements
Although support is key in helping someone quit, it doesn’t replace the nicotine cravings they may be having since cutting out cigarettes. In this case, you should offer alternatives to cigarettes that mean their body is getting enough nicotine to satisfy them, without them having to rely on cigarettes. What could be better is if you can give them an alternative that doesn’t use nicotine, but which fools their body into thinking they are smoking. One alternative is vaping, which has become a lifeline for people in recent years. This is due to the range of flavors you can find from stores like www.brokedick.com.
Don’t enable triggers
Unfortunately, people are more likely to smoke when they have had a drink, or when they are put in stressful situations that they need to be in. These are called triggers, as without them someone would not feel the need to succumb to smoking. You can help here by making sure you don’t go out and encourage heavy drinking, where cigarettes are more easily available. Also, you should always remind them that there are other outlets they can use for stress at times when it is unavoidable, or that some stressful situations are not ones they need to be in.
Suggest resources
There may well be times when you are not around the person you are helping to quit, due to work or other commitments. In this case, they will need to be well equipped with some handy resources that they can turn to when you are not there. This could include various techniques from anti-smoking apps, referring them to a quit smoking group, to pointing them to some valuable resources online.
