Thank you. You have all given me food for thought.
I've realized that smoking for me is mentally the same as eating and drinking is for my physical survival. Bottom line is survival.
I had surgery recently and couldn't have food, water, or smoke. Those are my 3 survival mechanisms. I can live without anything else. I think smoking really does play a part in my mental and emotional survival and it doesn't get replaced when I quit. My brain does not have the ability to feel any pleasure due to years of complex PTSD. I think smoking is the little bit of pleasure in my life that I can actually feel.
So it is a basic survival instinct that is as strong as hunger and thirst.