How to get a loved one to quit smoking? -

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

How to get a loved one to quit smoking? -


My mother has been smoking since I can-t remember. My sister, father, and I have tried to persuade her to quit thousands of times, but she just can-t stop. A few times she promised us she would quit, but none succeeded and she continues to smoke to this day. She used to smoke just about a pack a day; but thankfully, she has decreased the amount to 4-5 a day, as I am aware. We have tried so hard to show her pictures of black lungs, to persuade her that smoking is horrible and that she may get lung cancer; heck, we have given it our best effort and still she is yet to quit. If you have a loved one that is smoking, you know how hard it is for me, knowing that she is killing herself day-by-day and there is nothing you can do to stop her. I have tried many attempts to hide her cigarettes, or throw them away, but I end up feeling like a fool when she simply goes and buys some more. She doesn-t seem to care how much we want her to quit, and I don-t know what to do. Someone please help..?
GET MEDICAL HELP !!!

BUT YOU KNOW IT WON-T BE SUCCESSFUL UNTIL SHE COMMITS HERSELF TO QUIT !!!
sometimes the secret is to stop harpering.....

you got your point across to her.. she is an adult.. she knows the health problems..

let it be...

when you keep pushing a child the child will push back--guess what? adults are just bigger children-stop pushing her into the corner.

besides..she isn-t breaking the law...
let her smoke outside away from people. it is not fair she polute anyone else with her suicide--
Well, it really helped my husband when my mother was diagnosed with emphysema, had half her lungs cut out, and lives on oxygen (of course, now he-s addicted to the patch, but he-s still better off).

She already knows about the health effects. And I-m sure that it-s not that she doesn-t WANT to quit. Have you talked with her about the effects on YOUR health and the rest of the family? The secondhand smoke is putting you all at risk, too, and that may be something she cares about even more than her own health.

It also wouldn-t be a bad idea to have her add up how much she-s actually spending on all those cigarettes, and consider what she-d rather do with the money.
nobody can quit smoking until they are ready to. pressuring someone just makes it worse because you are building failure into the equation. it is her life to do with as she sees fit so you should really stop moralizing. only about 20% of smokers die from smoking complications -- those aren-t good odds but its not as bad a media would lead you to believe. i quit when i decided it was really bad for me and to make matters worse i was sending tax money to a corrupt government and paying a corrupt corporation to keep me addicted -- and i realized they didn-t care for me i had to care for myself. is my life that much better since i quit? i have 3 bucks more a day to spend on other stuff. i don-t feel that much better -- i was always riding my bike and chain smoking. i think i look a little healthier. i would try to accentuate the positive. give her reasons to live and be healthy. stop dwelling on the negative. in the end it is her decision and not yours and you have to learn to respect that.
i know how you feel my dad wont ever stop. he tried once. but it only succeeded for about 3-4 months. try talking your mom out of it. like wen you know she-s going out for a smoke ask her to do something for u. or pretend u have something to talk to her about. if she says later just say u need to talk toher now. you can also take all her cigarettes and throw them away.
I-m sorry, but the only way she-ll quit is if she really wants too....maybe. She DID cut back drastically (that is...if she isn-t smoking in secret), so there may be hope. I-m sure it-s exhausting, but maybe if you keep bombarding her and annoying her, she-ll stop. I-m a smoker, and I-ve tried to quit for people, and it didn-t work. I did realize how much of a pain it is to crave cigarettes all the time, so I did cut back a lot....until I moved on and now smoke just as much as I used to. Keep up with what you-re doing...I know it would annoy me enough to either cut back, or make it private...which in any case means LESS smoking. They say smoking is more addictive than heroin, just to let you know how hard it is. You mother has been smoking so long, it-s beyond physical addiction....it-s deep in her head, It-s a habit, she feels weird without a cigareet, believe me. I hope she quits soon....and when I-m ready, i hope I succeed as well. Good luck!
hun, my heart goes out to you.

you probably don-t want to hear this, but you can-t get your mom to quit smoking if she-s not ready to do it. it-s her decision. i smoked for years, and despite my knowing it was a bad thing and loved ones urging me to quit, i didn-t do it till i was ready and willing. she might never be ready. i know its hard to accept this, but it is her decision. as much as you love her, and hate what she-s doing to herself, you can-t change her.
Quitting somking is easy, ive done it a thousand times ! LOL.... No seriously speaking this is a serious matter. You can try to arrange your mother with family trips to the country side while on the roads travelling ( hide / throw / get rid of the smokes ) and then when she asks for one just tell her that i dunno and even if i knew i wouldnt tell you. Coz its bad for you. My dad also used to smoke a lot. He always used to say that this sunday onwards i`ll quit and then that sunday never came. But one day he swore to GOD with the biggest swear that he will never smoke again and that was the last day. If your mother is a determoned person then try slipping her into this type of commetment. If not then i am afraid you`ll have to use strict measures like isolatig her some plase where she cannot buy cigrettes and then diverting her mind somewhere else. There are also some products in the market that claim that the person will quit smoking. You should try searching them on the net.
Pleasure to HELP
Salik
Talk to them about the affects of smoking. Give them hope, just say you know someone who stopped and after about 3 days they were completely over it, ME, lol. It-s so weird now its about 3 months and I don-t see the interest in smokes and I was smoking 10 a day. Of coarse it may not be that easy for others but with support they can do it.
tell him that u wont eat dinner if he doesnt stop smoking. Go on a -hunger strike.-
she has to really want to quit to quit but if she has been smoking for 15+ years if she quits it may not help her that much because her life is already ruined i hope she comes to releaized smoking is really bad and quitting even if it wont help her she can know that she quit for you and your family
after they get cancer and a stroke they will decide to quit. trust me.
As a smoker, I can only say I know you are right but it is not easy, and no one can make you quit. I was put on oxygen for COPD I stopped smoking for 7 months and I was doing good. Then Bingo one think happened I don-t know what but If I didn-t get that cigarette I would have killed someone, Its an addiction . We smoker know what could happen, and struggle everyday, saying this is the last. So the more you bug her, the more she might smoke. I started to walk, and am redoing my recipes on the computer, and with Yahoo Answers I keep myself very busy. That doesn-t mean I don-t want one, but I am fighting not to go back. The patch help me greatly. Good Luck and prayers.
Take her to the hospital to the ward where they house the patients who have lung cancer, or have lost a lung due to smoking... Tough love, to say the least. Let her know that that is her future of suffering if she does not stop smoking................Be supportive, and recommend some strategies to help her quit....
Good Luck
How to get a loved one to quit smoking? -