How Do I Help Someone Quit Smoking

[FlyingTrue]

I met someone who might possibly become a new friend while partaking in my favorite hobby today. She just turned 18 recently, and she smokes. She says she is trying to quit and tried those quitting methods in the stores but that they haven't worked. She says she has been doing it since she was nine or ten. How should I best try to help her kick the habit?

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

One of the problems with the nicotine patches and chewing gum is it doesn't address what the hands do because for those who attempt quitting, there's often a difficulty in calming oneself and accepting a cigarette isn't in their hands. NicoDerm and other companies have released "fake cigarettes" where you hold it just like you would for a normal cigarette and smoke it except you only inhale nicotine, nothing else. For some, it can also emit water steam resembling smoking but contains nothing harmful. She could use the patches if she wants to instead. Some of the nicotine chewing gum supposedly tastes awful while other brands taste better, so it's a hit-or-miss.

Also, if she smokes with friends, she has to not go with them when they're smoking because that puts her at the highest point of temptation into smoking. She would have to tell her friends who smoke that she wants to quit and hopefully they could help by not smoking near her. Some people take a pack of cigarettes and a lighter with them while quitting as motivation to want to throw it out and not turn back. I don't know how effective it is though.

As with all physiological addictions, she has to have willpower and you could support her in this. For example, you could mark down on a calender each day she has not smoked and once she passes a certain benchmark, say a month, you two have a treat or mini-celebration.

[FlyingTrue]

That is definitely a very informational post, thanks for the advice!