The cabinet wants to reduce the number of vape users by increasing enforcement and higher fines for violations. By 2027, the percentage of students who vape should be reduced to 10 percent. But how do you get rid of a vape addiction? And how do you help your child with this?
“Vaping is not more harmful than smoking, but it is also dangerous in its own way,” Danielle Cohen told NU.nl earlier. She is a lung pathologist at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). When you smoke a cigarette, more than seventy harmful substances are burned, which you then inhale. With vaping, other harmful substances evaporate.
“In addition, the vape contains a filament that can leak dangerous substances,” said lung doctor Wanda de Kanter in an earlier conversation with NU.nl. De Kanter works in the specialized Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital in Amsterdam, where they specialize in cancer. De Kanter also emphasizes now that vapes, which contain a high dose of nicotine, are “extremely addictive.”
Many people don’t know they are addicted, says Joris Dullaert, psychologist at healthcare institution WeQuit. In this practice, people are treated with a vape addiction. “You start vaping in a ‘fun way’ and young people in particular experiment with it,” he says. “Until you want to reduce it and realize you can’t.”
Complaints or a parent who finds your vape
For young people, complaints they get from vaping are a reason to quit, says Dullaert. Think of concentration problems or a sore throat. The motivation to stop then comes from the person themselves. “That often works better than when a parent finds a vape in a jacket pocket. Then, as a child, you want to prevent your parents from getting angry.”
If you find your child’s vape, it is important not to be judgmental. Both De Kanter and Dullaert emphasize that a safe environment and an open conversation are important. “Giving unsolicited advice only creates resistance,” says De Kanter. “Ask your child for permission to talk about vaping. If your child doesn’t feel like it, say that you will come back to it tomorrow or next week. Someone won’t stop vaping immediately tomorrow either. Take the rush out of it.”
‘Gain insight into why your child vapes’
Once you’re talking about vaping, ask your child why they vape, advises De Kanter. “Maybe your child likes the smell or wants to belong. This way you have insight into what vaping gives your child. Don’t contradict your child by saying: ‘It actually makes you stressed’ and ‘That’s nonsense’. But ask: ‘How much do you want to quit on a scale of one to ten?’ If your child says: ‘Two’? That’s good, because it’s not zero.”
Then you can ask why a child wants to quit. Maybe your child will tell you that it is too expensive or that it causes a dry mouth. According to De Kanter, you can then emphasize which positive things vaping gives your child, such as belonging. But also that you hear that it causes negative things, like that dry mouth. “This way your child has the idea that you as a father or mother have listened. Then you can ask your child if you can give information about vaping, such as that it is extremely addictive.”
With a child who doesn’t vape yet, you can also share concerns. “Such as that you hear that children start vaping due to peer pressure,” De Kanter gives as an example. “Try to make your child more resistant to peer pressure.” Dullaert also sees that young people are susceptible to what peers do. “Parents can be role models,” he explains. “If parents smoke, it has an impact on how important a child thinks this is. But young people look much more to peers.”
Try to stop yourself first
Dullaert would encourage everyone to try to stop themselves first. “Some people succeed,” he says. “If you notice that you can’t, you can give it a chance with guidance.”
According to both Dullaert and De Kanter, it is best to stop vaping all at once. “Otherwise you will crave it all day,” says the lung doctor. “If you stop all at once, you have very clearly agreed with yourself: I have now stopped and am going to experiment with new behavior,” Dullaert adds. “If you are going to phase out, that rule is less clear.”
You can – together with a supervisor – use nicotine substitutes to quit, says De Kanter. “These nicotine patches and tablets are much less addictive.” These substitutes can also make it easier to learn ‘new behavior’ in therapy. “You can best do that when you are relaxed,” says Dullaert. “Withdrawal symptoms can make that complicated. With a patch you build it up gradually, without having to put a vape in your mouth.”
The substitutes may be a recommendation for adults, but it is different for young people. Little is yet known about how successful the different methods of treatment are, because little research has been done into nicotine addiction in young people, says Dullaert.
“We now have fifty young people in the process, but none of them get those substitutes and we see that that works fine,” he says. “That sounds strange, because there is a lot of nicotine in vapes. But it has to do with the changing vape use of young people. One day they vape more and the other day less.”
‘Find allies who also don’t vape’
Support from people around you helps both adults and young people to stop vaping, Dullaert sees. “Sometimes people indicate that they like it when their partner also doesn’t vape,” says Dullaert. “Find allies who don’t offer a vape. Go outside with your non-smoking colleagues instead of with your smoking colleagues. Or, as a young person, stand with non-vaping young people.”
And if you feel that you really crave a vape? Know that this ‘craving’ often lasts only a short time. “About one or two minutes,” says Dullaert. “Get out of the situation at that moment and do something else. Go for a walk or do a breathing exercise. If you can sit out those few minutes, you have already been helped a lot.”