I would rather go to the dentist than white-knuckle it
I'm not being melo-dramatic here, if you're going to the dentist, or the doctor for a blood test, at least you know the pain will be over fairly quickly. When you have a craving, especially during those long evenings, the pain is long and drawn out & feels like it will last forever. Personally, I find resisting cravings more painful than having a blood test, almost on par with trying to sleep with an earache!
It floods your brain with euphoric memories yet at the same time it makes you feel stressed, it threatens you with feelings of anxiety, a racing mind, horrible loneliness and a feeling of deprivation. That anticipation of pain is on par, if not worse than the anxiety you'd get when you go to the dentist.
At the same time, the craving BLOCKS ALL MEMORIES of the last hangover, the last time you felt that drinking was the last thing in the world you wanted to do. It's an evil, devious little monster. It's the fear of PAIN that's the bigger motivator, not the looking forward to pleasure.
I want to find the part of the brain responsible for cravings. You have no idea what I want to do to it. I want to rip it out, burn it, stamp on it, put in in sulphuric acid, expose it to the radiation from spent nuclear fuel, destroy it!