A drug addict will withstand immeasurable suffering to experience a few seconds of bliss.
Why?
When a drug kicks into a user’s body, the user experiences nirvana throughout both the physical body and the mind. The experience is similar to an orgasm. The orgasm is localized to a single zone of the body, though, whereas the euphoria of the chemical connections of a powerful narcotic provide pleasure to the user’s entire mental and physical being.
For this reason, recovery entails finding a compassionate, non-destructive vehicle or medium to provide bliss on a mental level with enough regularity that our bodies will move into joy and bliss along with our minds.
We may be experiencing both physical pain and emotional pain. When we do, we are at elevated risk of becoming addicted to narcotics that stop or lessen both types of pain.
Drug users have to understand that addiction to their substances of choice puts them in prison cells. They fight both themselves and their addiction, creating more and more pain as they do so and fueling their perceived need for more and more of whatever they are addicted to. It becomes a perpetual loop.
The hope of a drug addict is in becoming enlightened. When they do, they become aware of what they are doing. The awareness generates a deep desire to stop. The desire gives way to a willingness to stop, which in turn will spur them on to take the necessary actions to get off and stay off their addictive substance(s).