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Addiction and Environmental Cues

Home » Smoking Cessation » Science of Addiction » Addiction and Environmental Cues

Like absolutely no other addiction (including heroin, crack, or marijuana), cigarette smoking has an immutable link to both internal and external environment. What does this mean? That certain situations and moods reinforce the need to smoke. And what are the most common environmental cues? Having a cigarette with coffee, after dinner, or while stressing out. And, because these social cues are almost as common as waking up, the habit is all the more difficult to break -- indeed, when you quit smoking, you add stress to your life, and that stress triggers the need to smoke. Moreover, even ex-smokers - people who haven't smoked in years - still suffer from pangs when these environmental cues are triggered, making the break from addiction all that more difficult. It is classic conditioning, no different than the Pavlovian dogs slobbering when the bell rings.

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