In the second theme month of this year we have picked the theme smoking cessation and behavior change. In the Netherlands the month October is dedicated to Stoptober ( https://stoptober.nl/), which is an initiative from the Dutch government in collaboration with the GGD, Trimbos Institute and several (mental) health foundations. If you are a smoker and you want to quit smoking, you can sign up for Stoptober and quit smoking at the first of October together with many other Dutchies. Quitting smoking for a month is a period that can be overseen, and from research we know that after 28 days most withdrawal symptoms have subsided. Furthermore, quitting smoking together with a lot of other companions makes smoking cessation a team effort instead of a personal struggle. The GEMH-lab strongly believes in the power of social processes and therefore many of our prevention and intervention games include a social component. If you have signed up for Stoptober, lots of good luck and remember: you are not alone!

The coming month we are delighted to inform you about smoking cessation and behavior change in several blog posts on our website. Among other things, we will give an overview of what is known at this moment about smoking cessation for youth and young adults and the, unfortunately, big steps that need to be made. Furthermore, we will test behavior change apps and games that are freely available in the app store and discuss what the evidence for these apps and games is, and whether we were able to change our own behaviors. And many more…

If you are interested in this topic, please share your ideas with us via the website or our Twitter. We don't just want to share our ideas, we'd like to discuss them with you.