Addiction is an inside job. This may sound flippant or simplistic, but it is clinically sound. Actually, alcoholics and other addicts agree with the National Institute of Mental Health that addictions are a matter of brain chemistry, which is shaped by genetics, psychological strain and personal life events. But with our current limited knowledge, physicians in the trenches and addicts who are in treatment agree that the only things we can address clinically are the addicts' thoughts and addictive behaviors. The Problem Addicts are people who have learned how to give themselves a quick chemical fix or achieve an emotional high when they either want to or have to change how they feel, and when they want to ignore real-life problems.
Most people do that, but the next morning, they feel sick or foolish.
They don't do it again because it didn't work for them. Any drug in a storm, you might say. You just pulled off, broke even on, or screwed up a major business deal. You are elated, bored or humiliated. You feel emotionally out of balance.