"It is not an embracing of life, and those who are addicted cannot always see this. Some feel or say that when they are in the midst of their addiction they feel most alive. Yet, the feeling they are actually having is not one of being truly alive; it is not embracing life; it is embracing fear; it is embracing escape, and that escape stems from fear.
It is a malady of the heart and the soul. When we say of the heart, we mean it is associated with some deep-seated grief, sadness or wounding within the individual.
This person would say it is incapability rather than unwillingness; however, it is in fact unwillingness on the part of this individual. Therefore, the individual chooses to exhibit the addictive behavior. Some addictions are small, but most are not, and all are escapes—escapes from finding the truth, facing oneself, learning and growing and releasing oneself as well as the other...
It is a difficult path to choose, but even this path may have its end. There is always the choice and always the ability to break the cycle and break the addiction. Even when one has already become addicted, one can learn to love and by so doing defeat the addiction. If one truly loves oneself, one embraces life, and if one embraces life, one defeats addiction, for it is the opposite of life. Always there is a choice. A great healing can be done if you open to it in the form of forgiving and loving yourself and the other involved...
http://www.dianahenderson.net/addiction.html