An addict's opinion on how addiction works

Any addiction boils down to a few simple things. You get an endorphin rush out of it, lighting up the pleasure centers of the brain like a Christmas tree. You get distracted from whatever mental state you don't like to be in, whether it's hunger, anger, loneliness, tiredness, (the HALT triggers most common for addicts) or getting your mind off some awful thoughts/memories. We get addicted to something that seems easy, quick and that works to get that endorphin rush and to change your mental state to something other than what it is. What starts out as a manageable way to make life work gradually takes over and replaces your life.
MOST addictions start out neutral.  Most people can have 1 or 2 beers without needing to drink 27 more.  Most people can watch a football game and not lose $53,000 a year betting.  Most people can smoke one joint without becoming useless hippies.  Most people can watch DEBBIE DOES DALLAS without spending 12 hours a day every day watching porn.
OK, there's probably not many people that can use crystal meth once in a while for recreation without it becoming a problem.  But MOST STUFF that takes over an addicts life starts out as something most people can use to relax and not get all freaky about it.
The solution people throw out usually is "Well, just quit, never use it.  You can't handle it, so just quit and everything will be fine."
BULLSHIT.  People who just quit will find some OTHER way to relax and then get all obsessed and freaky with it unless they learn to use a LOT of ways to relax. 12 stepping is great, I've done it. Quitting and abstinence is a start, the first step to getting out of a hole is to quit digging. But you ALSO damn well better find a better way to get an endorphin rush that takes your mind out of whatever the mental state is that makes you want to rely on addiction. Spread it out, have a LOT of ways to relax, not just ONE. Once people do THAT the addiction loses the power it has. Do that, and a porn addict no longer will need to run screaming from the room at the sight of a bra commercial, eventually. An alcoholic can have champagne at New Year's Eve without losing their house.  A gambler can play gin rummy without betting the kid's college fund. OTHER people can do it, so can you. Just stop using that one thing as the "only" way to change your mental state and get that endorphin rush. Get a hobby, exercise, theres a 1000 options, see which works for you, then find a few more.