How Video Games Helped Me Quit Smoking

In somewhat recent years, there is a campaign of anti-smoking commercials from BecomeAnEx.org, and I loved them. It had been the very first time I felt like someone really discovered the trick to quitting smoking, and offered it from a sympathetic perspective, with a sense of humor and a sincere need to help smokers.

I have seen many commercials against smoking over the years. Somehave tried fighting cigarettes by unveiling statistics about smoking and its industry, with this self-righteous "look how clever we are" approach that's rather alienating. It's like being told to give up smoking by somebody who is more committed to their marketing pitch than the problem at hand.

And then there were the deluge of "scare tactic" commercials that show you blackened lungs and people living with tracheotomies. While I believe these commercials hold some worth, they are more likely to provide a smoker pause, rather than actually helping them to give up. Our selective memory kicks in, and kicks out the bad ones.

These campaign, however, nailed the essence of the smoking problem in a few brief moments. It remarked that smoking is strongly connected to habitual behavior; you smoke together with your morning cup of coffee, during your morning routine, or during happy hour at the bar. These commercials suggested you can relearn many of these activities without a cigarette. The one about happy hour even suggested you "keep a beer in a single hand and anything but a cigarette in the other". That is smart advice.

Physical addiction of nicotine is nothing when compared to the mental addiction of smoking. Because of this , wearing a patch doesn't instantly repair the problem; a smoker still wants to hold and smoke a cigarette. Mental addiction is king. I was quite lucky; I gradually gave up smoking simply because I was not enjoying it anymore, and that made it far easier to leave. But some of this habitual smoking through association was still rearing its ugly head. Eliminating those last few lines of defense could possibly be the hardest.

When you quit cigarettes (or are along the way of doing so), you may notice certain new habits taking over temporarily. Once of them is the famous one: eating. And other ones pop up, like chewing the caps from pens (until they are completely unrecognizable). However, one activity that interfered with my smoking was entirely by chance, yet so able to keeping my mind and body off of smoking, it should be recommended in organizations: playing video games.

It is probably arguable that the total sensory experience of playing a video game contributes in distracting the ball player from alternative activities like smoking (or socializing... kidding!), but iron-fall believe that the controller is the key. Keeping both hands fully occupied and working hastily enables you to forget about holding a cigarette.

And why not? People have a tendency to smoke the most if they are unoccupied, bored and feeling lazy. People smoke on the breaks. People smoke at their laptops and during a football game on television. It's down time, time to drink a beer, have a smoke watching a movie!

Video games are down-time too, but don't allow for a half-hearted relationship with them. I remember when I'd play games like Halo 3 online, discussing strategies with friends and controlling my Spartan Soldier. I was much too engaged with the overall game to smoke (or utilize the bathroom, for that matter!). In fact, when I would light up a cigarette between matches, I would take my first puff and put it down, once we would already be back the firefight. By enough time I reached for my cigarette again, nothing remained save an extended log of ash, burning away in the ashtray. That is clearly a powerful moment to notice; I had made my choice. That wouldn't function as last cigarette I ever had. But it wouldn't function as last time I ignored them and only playing video games, either.

Playing video games is not a magical solution, and there are plenty of variables when quitting smoking, which means that your mileage can vary greatly. I already wanted to stop smoking, but video games helped by running interference, also it helped to keep me occupied once I quit smoking entirely.

Around this time, I was spending a good deal of my gaming time with portable systems, like the DS Lite and the PSP (the very best part is once you easily justify your PSP purchase, in line with the amount of cigarettes you are not buying). When I'd return from work and relax for the evening, I'd lie on my back bed playing games. Additional info worked great for me, as I was in even less of a posture to reach for a cigarette, and much more relaxed than normal. Having said that, I think a stronger case could be designed for taking your portable on the run, as it's intended for. Now you're looking forward to the subway or sitting during your lunch break at the job, and you're focusing on your game, without free hands or time to smoke. Try reading the newspaper instead, or worse, just standing or sitting there. Smoking will become a lot more tempting.

I can't stress the importance enough of video gaming occupying your hands. While Freud would likely tell us smoking is an oral fixation (see: eating, chewing pen caps), we hold a cigarette in our hands; it is part of the appeal. So, when our hands are busy, we have been less likely to be holding a cigarette. Playing a game engages the upper 1 / 2 of your body arguably a lot more than driving a car does. When driving, you have one free hand to smoke with. Also, a lot of people drive the same roads ad nauseam, and it largely becomes a mindless activity, second nature even. On the other hand, video gaming frequently change things up, producing new challenges and garnering your full attention merely to master (and even survive) them.