How Video Games Helped Me Quit Smoking
In somewhat recent years, there was a campaign of anti-smoking commercials from BecomeAnEx.org, and I loved them. It had been the first time I felt like someone really discovered the trick to quitting smoking, and offered it from the sympathetic perspective, with a feeling of humor and a sincere need to help smokers.
iron-fall 've seen many commercials against smoking through the years. Somehave tried fighting cigarettes by unveiling statistics about smoking and its own industry, with this self-righteous "look how clever we are" approach that is rather alienating. It's like being told to give up smoking by somebody who is more invested in their marketing pitch than the problem at hand.
And then there have been 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 give a smoker pause, instead of 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 with your morning cup of coffee, throughout your morning routine, or during happy hour at the bar. These commercials suggested you can relearn all these activities without a cigarette. The one about happy hour even suggested you "keep a beer in a single hand and not a cigarette in another". That is smart advice.
Physical addiction of nicotine is nothing in comparison with the mental addiction of smoking. This is exactly why wearing a patch doesn't instantly fix 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. 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 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 mind and body off of smoking, it should be recommended in support groups: playing video games.
It really is probably arguable that the total sensory connection with playing a video game contributes in distracting the player from alternative activities like smoking (or socializing... kidding!), but I believe that the controller is the key. Keeping both of your hands fully occupied and working hastily enables you to just forget about holding a cigarette.
And why not? People have a tendency to smoke the most when they are unoccupied, bored and feeling lazy. People smoke on their 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 do not let for a half-hearted relationship with them. I remember when I would 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 use the bathroom, for example!). In fact, when I'd light a cigarette between matches, I would take my first puff and put it down, as we would already be back the firefight. By the time I reached for my cigarette again, nothing remained save an extended log of ash, burning away in the ashtray. That's a powerful moment to notice; I had made my choice. That wouldn't be the 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 you can find a lot of variables when quitting smoking, which means that your mileage can vary greatly. I already wanted to quit smoking, but video gaming helped by running interference, and it helped to keep me occupied once I quit smoking entirely.
Around 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 when you easily justify your PSP purchase, based on the amount of cigarettes you're not buying). When I would return from work and settle down for the evening, I'd lie on my back bed playing games. That worked great for me, as I was in even less of a position to attain for a cigarette, and much more relaxed than normal. That said, I believe a stronger case could possibly be designed for taking your portable on the run, as it's designed for. Now you're looking forward to the subway or sitting throughout your lunch break at the job, and you're focusing on your game, with no free hands or time and energy to smoke. Try reading the newspaper instead, or worse, just standing or sitting there. Smoking can be a lot more tempting.
I can't stress the significance enough of video gaming occupying the hands. While Freud would likely reveal smoking is an oral fixation (see: eating, chewing pen caps), we hold a cigarette inside our hands; it is portion 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 worries does. When driving, you have one free hand to smoke with. Also, most people drive exactly the same roads ad nauseam, and it largely becomes a mindless activity, second nature even. On the other hand, video games frequently change things up, producing new challenges and garnering your full attention just to master (and even survive) them.