I'm mostly posting this for the benefit of any never-addicted people who may stumble across this thread and wonder how AVRT might feel. I realize that it is almost impossible to imagine substance addiction, since it really is completely illogical, but it is useful to realize that addiction is a perversion of legitimate survival drives.
The additive mandate can actually feel much stronger than legitimate survival drives, but if you try the following exercise, you'll come close to being able to visualize it.
Say to yourself:
"I will never eat again, and I will never change my mind."
Any thoughts, feelings, or imagery which support your future intake of food are your Addictive Voice, the emotional-cognitive expression of your Beast. Those thoughts and feelings belong to
IT, the Beast, while all other thoughts belong to
you. Your body should feel the terror and threat to its survival and will start talking back to you.
If you don't hear your AV immediately, you certainly will come dinner time. :-)