Anyone who has ever experienced an addiction will be very familiar with the 'hamster on a wheel' sensation. You are on a wheel that despite all your intentions to the contrary, you just can't get off! With this comes a sense of powerlessness, helplessness, shame, embarrassment, self loathing together with a feeling of being totally weak. Anyone experiencing these negative emotions is in extreme emotional pain which will obviously further drive the addiction as a form of escape.