Things You'll Need:
- Patience
- Creativity
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Step 1
Keep your conversation topics away from smoking cessation. The more you talk about it, the more the smoker will have smoking on his or her mind. To really help with smoking cessation, mention it as little as possible. The key is to distract the smoker from smoking rather than to remind them that they are not smoking.
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Step 2
Offer specific distractions if your loved one isn't actively engaging in them. If they mention having trouble with avoiding smoking at certain times of day, suggest activities during those times. You might take a morning walk with them to help them stop smoking in the morning, engage them in a board game or movie-watching session in the evening or take them out of the house for awhile until the urge to smoke passes.
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Step 3
Suggest the use of stop smoking aids if the person is still having trouble. Some people have a harder time beating nicotine addiction than others. If your loved one can't beat their nicotine addiction with distraction or distance, suggest one of the many stop smoking aids that are currently on the market. There are nicotine patches, nicotine inhalers and many types of nicotine gum that might be of use to them stop smoking and beat that nicotine addiction.
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Step 4
Offer support and patience. It can be hard to watch someone go through the process of quitting smoking, and it's always possible that the first or second attempt to quit smoking will not work. If your loved one has a lapse, be encouraging in the next attempt to quit. Let them know that they can succeed, even if they have not had success in the past. Offer patience and calm when nicotine withdrawal makes your loved one moody. A calming voice and some reassurance can go a long way.
