In somewhat recent years, there was a campaign of anti-smoking commercials from BecomeAnEx.org, and I loved them. It had been the 1st time I felt like someone really discovered the trick to quitting smoking, and offered it from the sympathetic perspective, with a sense of humor and a sincere desire to help smokers.

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

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

The aforementioned campaign, however, nailed the essence of the smoking problem in a few brief moments. It pointed out that smoking is strongly connected to habitual behavior; you smoke together with your morning cup of coffee, throughout your morning routine, or during happy hour at the bar. These commercials suggested that you may relearn these activities without a cigarette. The main 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 that habitual smoking through association was still rearing its ugly head. Getting rid of those last few lines of defense can be the hardest.

When you quit cigarettes (or are along the way of doing so), you may notice certain new habits overtaking temporarily. Once of them is the famous one: eating. Along with 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 body and mind off of smoking, it ought to be recommended in organizations: playing video games.

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

And why not? People tend 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 never let for a half-hearted relationship using them. iron-fall 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 game to smoke (or utilize the bathroom, for example!). In fact, when I would light up a cigarette between matches, I'd take my first puff and put it down, as we would already be back in the firefight. By enough time I reached for my cigarette again, nothing remained save an extended log of ash, burning off in the ashtray. That's a powerful moment to note; I had made my choice. That wouldn't function as last cigarette I ever endured. But it wouldn't function as last time I ignored them in favor of playing video games, either.

Playing video games isn't a magical solution, and there are a lot of variables when quitting smoking, so your mileage may vary. I already wanted to quit smoking, but video games helped by running interference, also it helped to keep me occupied once I stop smoking entirely.

For this time, I was spending a great deal of my gaming time with portable systems, like the DS Lite and the PSP (the best part is once you easily justify your PSP purchase, based on the amount of cigarettes you are not buying). When I would return from work and settle down for the evening, I would lie on my back in bed doing offers. That worked great for me, when i was in even less of a position to attain 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 go, 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, with no 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 significance enough of video gaming occupying your hands. While Freud would likely tell us smoking can be an oral fixation (see: eating, chewing pen caps), we hold a cigarette inside 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 casino 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, most people drive the same roads ad nauseam, and it largely becomes a mindless activity, second nature even. In contrast, video gaming frequently change things up, producing new challenges and garnering your full attention just to master (and also survive) them.