Helping someone to quit smoking

  I’d like to help someone close to me give up – how can I go about this?

I’d like to help someone close to me give up – how can I go about this?

It’s difficult to persuade anyone to stop smoking. It has to be the smoker themselves who decides that he or she wants to give up. Providing the right sort of encouragement and support will therefore be invaluable, especially when considering that about 70% of smokers want to stop smoking.

You can tell them how concerned you are about the health risks and costs of smoking, and talk to them about why they smoke. You can also discuss the benefits of giving up, and encourage them to find out more by talking to their GP, visiting this website, or calling the NHS Smoking Helpline 0800 169 0 169. But at the end of the day, the decision to give up smoking has to come from them.

There are a number of reasons why people decide to stop smoking, some of which are listed below. Perhaps one or more of these will be of interest to the individual you want to help.

* Better all-round health - stopping smoking reduces the risk of about 50 different illnesses and medical conditions

* Risk of having a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker five years after quitting

* Cancer risk drops with every year of not smoking

* Setting a good example to the kids (or other people’s children) - you don’t want to be a smoking role model

* Having more money to spend on other things - smoking 20 cigarettes a day can cost almost £1,600 per year

* Living longer - one in two long-term smokers die early and lose about 16 years of life

* Improved fitness and easier breathing - better at sports and getting up stairs

* Food and drink tastes better

* Better skin and complexion, and no early wrinkles

* Fresher smelling breath, hair and clothes, and no more cigarette smells around the house

* Travel on trains, aircraft, and buses will be easier

* Work will be easier and there’s no longer a need to spend so much time outside or in the smoking room

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