Helping Someone on Addiction

This is a very helpful post for anyone who wishes to help a family member, friend, or relative to overcome any form of addiction (alchohol, smoking, etc). The following is written in response to a lady who approached us for guidance to help her 'brother' overcome his smoking addiction. Please read the following in the same context. This guidance is VALID for ALL people regardless of the form of their addiction.

Title: "𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣"

Subtitle: 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚎 & 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 (𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙-𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎) 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

✶𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻: 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺/𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴). 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. "𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜"

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The following was written in response to a query we received on our Samadhan WhatsApp group in Jan 2025.

Index

Process in Brief

Step-wise guidance

Helpful Videos

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🌴First of all—do welcome our 'appreciation' as you approached for help and are trying to help your 'brother' to overcome smoking-addiction.

🍀Indeed smoking is highly injurious in many ways. Must be stopped in its early stage. But even now, 𝕚𝕗 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪, 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕡𝕤, 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟—this CAN be done.

The Process (in brief)

Now helping your brother begins with:

➤𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

➤Encouraging them to identify triggers, explore 'healthier' alternatives, and 'set achievable milestones' can reduce cravings and build confidence.

➤Consistent 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, taking options like therapy or counseling, and 'celebrating small victories' all help foster a lasting change.

After this post, please also read our detailed guidance on 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (Dec 2024)

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽-𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

(( Process in-detail ))

In order to attain the desired result, you must consider every step of this process, be gentle, affirmative, and motivating. Here are our 6 suggestions:

1 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Express genuine concern and willingness to help. Avoid blaming or lecturing; instead—invite them to share their struggles and motivations for quitting.

2 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

Keep your home smoke-free, be supportive around him, and offer alternatives—like 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜, 𝚐𝚞𝚖, 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚓𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜-𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 that keeps them engaged—to reduce temptation.

3 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴

Help them identify triggers and replace smoking with healthier habits, such as—𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐘𝐨𝐠𝐚, etc. Watching motivational videos can be very encouraging and helpful.

4 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀

Acknowledge their progress—whether it’s a day, a week, or a month of smoke-free living—and reward their successes. For example: 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘱 & 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

5 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁

If needed, encourage them to consult healthcare providers or counselors for medication options, nicotine replacement therapies, and de-addiction rehabilitation camps.

6 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

Remain supportive, remind them of their initial reasons for quitting, and reaffirm your faith in their ability to overcome smoking. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: 'Acceptance' and 'Patience' are most important.

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