Other Addictions and Smoking.

Public opinion on addiction—how it forms, how it operates, and how it should be treated—is often flawed. Society tends to divide addictions into neat categories: some are treated as diseases, others as moral failings, and still others—like smoking—are diminished as nothing more than a bad habit.

But as I’ve said time and again in this smoking cessation series and on my blog, smoking is not a habit. It is a deadly addiction.

For me, there are no such things as “good addictions” or “bad addictions.” There are only bad cravings. You can have good habits and bad habits—but when it comes to addiction, it’s never good, no matter the object of your craving.

A Different Kind of Addiction

During my university years in Greece, I didn’t just wrestle with nicotine addiction. I also became addicted to a computer game—StarCraft. It was a military science fiction strategy game with four species: the human-like Terrans, the insectoid Zerg, the powerful Protoss, and the divine creator race, the Xel’Naga. I always played as the Terrans.

Initially, I competed against the computer. It wasn’t long before I figured out its algorithms and won every match. I lost interest—until a friend told me I could play against other people online. That changed everything. From that point forward, the phone line was constantly busy. My life for the next six months revolved around StarCraft.

I was addicted.

I ate in front of the computer. I drank water with one hand while commanding armies with the other. Had it not been for the game’s pause function, I might have moved the computer into the bathroom. That’s how deep I was.

A Darkened World

My room was always dark—even during the day. I installed heavy curtains to block the sunlight so that the only light came from my glowing monitor. I told myself this helped me concentrate. In reality, I was becoming isolated.

Eventually, friends began to complain. I missed appointments. I ignored people. I wasn’t present. That’s when it hit me: this wasn’t normal. This wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t just “interested” in a game—I was enslaved by it.

Cold Turkey Works

So, I stopped.

It wasn’t easy. The first few days, every time I sat at the computer, my fingers instinctively moved toward the StarCraft icon. I uninstalled the game. That helped. But I still thought about it constantly. It took weeks to fully break free.

Some people will say that quitting a game and quitting smoking are two completely different things. I disagree.

The method I used—cold turkey—is identical to the one I used to quit smoking. Deleting the game was like throwing away cigarettes, lighters, and ashtrays. In both cases, I had to eliminate every reminder, every cue that could trigger a relapse.

Social Fallout

And just like quitting smoking, there was social pushback. Friends who played StarCraft were upset. I had left their world. When I quit smoking, some of my smoking buddies reacted the same way. They said I was no longer their friend, that I didn’t hang out with them anymore. I wasn’t joining them in their “smoke breaks”—which, let’s be honest, were more like poison sessions.

Addiction Parallels

The similarities between these two addictions are striking. More importantly, they underscore a broader truth: people who have overcome one addiction are often better prepared to overcome another.

Take Alcoholics Anonymous, for example. The famous twelve-step model is, at its core, a cold turkey framework. It urges complete abstinence from the addictive substance and total lifestyle reconfiguration.

When someone who has recovered from alcohol addiction decides to quit smoking, they already understand the stakes. They know that just one puff can trigger a full relapse—just as one sip of alcohol can undo years of sobriety.

They’ve been through withdrawal before. They’ve faced cravings. They’ve learned how to resist. They know how it feels to be free—and they’re not willing to trade that freedom for another dose of poison.