Figure 7D. When the same people and things in our lives create the same
emotions, and the feeling we are trying to make go away no longer changes,
we look for new people and things, or try going to new places, in an attempt
to change how we feel emotionally. If that doesn’t work, we go to the next
level—addictions.Whatever the addiction, people are still thinking that some external thing
is going to take that internal feeling away. And remember: we have this
natural propensity to associate an external thing that’s making that feeling
go away with our internal chemical change. And we like that external thing
if it makes us feel good. So we run away from what feels bad or painful,
and we move toward what feels good and comfortable or brings us pleasure.
As the excitement people get from their addiction continually stimulates
the pleasure centers in the brain, they get a flood of chemicals from the
thrill of the experience. The problem is that each time they gamble, binge,