TODD ANSWERS: If oral fixation is the problem, switching to gum would be an easy task. But, there is much more to smoking addiction than oral fixation. Oral fixation, which can have many causes, is always exacerbated by smoking.

Smoking doesn’t just reinforce the fixation either. It makes it stronger due to the nicotine withdrawal, which creates added stress and anxiety which makes oral fixation worse. The more calm awareness we bring to these fixative impulses, the more we can simply observe them and consciously choose not to act on them.