a question about heroin- why is it so appealing/addictive?

[Sniffin Sunshine]

for swim heroin was the drug to top all drugs. that first line convinced her she would never do another opiate again. that first mainline convinced her that she would never snort it again.
it was like love at first site.. as if swim had a heroin shaped hole in her heart and she had tried to fill it with weed, coke, x, benzos and even other opiates and it just never did the trick, but finding heroin was like finding the key that unlocked her soul
i know that sounds pretty intense, but swim tells me thats how she feels about h

the reason some (like me) fall in love after one hit, and others develop a habit gradually, and still others find it to not be worth all the hype and leave it alone, all has to do with individual receptors in the brain.
swim actually learned this in detox
the thing is everyone has these little receptors and different drugs fit into diffferent ones and in turn release the feel good chemicals
but not all brains are created equal and so wereas person x might get the most feel good chems from hroin, person z gets way more from coke
this is why people have different drugs of choice

one thing is sure though, once swiy have done smack regularly for a littel while, there becomes a physical dependance, and once that happens, your body is reprogrammed into actually physically needing the drug to function
for non addicts: imagine the worst case of the flu youve ever had, multiply that x10
add extreme body aches like you just got out of a car accident, and suvere mental anguish
ok, now imagine that you know that all you have to do to stop this feeling is go score some more smack
that is why junkies like swim get such a desperation for the drug. not only is our body rebelling and crying out for the drug, our mind is too, and is telling us to do ANYTHING it takes to just get that sickness to go away.
and of course, once you feel the high of mainlinging some h, you can never un-feel it.
and if your like swim and loved it- then your fate is sealed

not saying junkies cant get clean- this forum is living proof that we can, and there are some quite insipirational memebers here that will agree.
sadly swim hasnt achieved long term sobriety yet, but she does know its possible.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	very honest and easy to understand facts.
	detailed insightful reply,excellent description of physical dependence