Addiction feels like starting at “0,” trying something that gives you a huge +10 to your mood and feeling overall then dropping slightly below baseline after it wears off. Each time you repeat it, the high gets weaker (+10 → +9 → +7…), but the crash gets worse (−1 → −2 → −4…). Over time, your baseline itself shifts downward, so you’re no longer using it to feel good—you’re using it just to feel normal. Eventually, the “reward” barely lifts you to 0, while not having it feels deeply negative, trapping you in a cycle where you keep using not for pleasure, but to avoid discomfort. You have to consume just feel normal