THE ADDICTION PROCESS: An LDS Model
        There are a variety of behaviors and substances people can become "addicted" to. In many ways the process of "sin" and "addiction" are a like. Generally speaking addiction can be viewed in three stages. The pace at which an alcohol or drug user might proceed through theses stages vary. Not everyone experience all three stages.
        First stage. The first stage of alcohol or drug use is one of joy or pleasure. The user discovers a form of joy (pleasure or "a high") associated with substance use. These substances may be alcohol, drugs, or even pornography. Their use by almost anyone will typically influence the way that person feels, usually in a pleasurable fashion. In 3 Nephi 27:11 Jesus says that whether we build our lives ". . . upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil . . . [we shall] have joy in [our] works for a season . . ."  These scriptures suggest that those who use substances are building their lives upon the "works of men or upon the works of the devil" and as a result typically experience "joy."
        Second stage. This stage is explained in 3 Nephi 27:11 ". . . verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season and by and by the end cometh . . ." During the second stage of addiction an "end cometh" to the pleasure, and pain is experienced periodically. The second stage of addiction is one in which tolerance is developed and a spiritual decline begins. Tolerance occurs with drug and alcohol abuse, when over time it takes more of the same substance to get the same high. During the middle stages of addiction, the substance user continues to obtain periodic pleasure and joy and learns to cope with life's pain by using the effective and dependable substances. It is usually at this stage that surrounding loved ones first begin to suspect the misuse of substances.
        Third stage. The third and last stage of addiction begins as substance users experience more pain and are unable to reach the "highs" they were once able to achieve in the earlier stages of addiction. 3 Nephi 27:11 continues as follows: ". . . by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down, and cast into the fire from whence there is no return."  It is at this stage that the disease concept of addiction becomes evident. In LDS terms we might refer to this stage as experiencing the second death or a spiritual death. The disease of addiction replaces agency and spirituality. During this final stage of addiction, the small seed of disobedience planted during the first stage of addiction has now grown substantially. Here the user might more accurately be perceived as an "addict" or a "sick person needing to get well."
        Elder Boyd K. Packer summarizes the addiction cycle: "... Then many of them turn elsewhere, seeking to escape the futility in life. They turn to drugs and find for a moment the escape they seek. At last their spirits soar. They reach beyond themselves, erase all limitations, and taste for a moment, as they suppose, that which they have been seeking. But it is a synthetic, a wicked counterfeit, for they return to a depression worse than the one they left. Then they become players in the saddest of human tragedies. For, as they turn again to this release, they are not seeking what they sought before, but indulge to escape the consequences of each previous adventure with drugs. This is addiction! This is slavery! When a remedy becomes worse than the disease, then we have found futility itself...." , (General Conference, Escape from Futility, October 3, 1969)

Information from: Chapter 1: "The Addiction Cycle" from the book "Hold on to Hope: Help for LDS Addicts and their Families." E-mail  info@mentalhealthlibrary.info or call 1.800.723.1760.