Excitement, anxiety, and depression.

My former drinking buddy beat me into recovery and I remember her telling me (not in a proselytizing way) how calm her life felt after she was sober and how much she liked it. I then remember thinking "How boring; I'd rather be dead." For me (and other drunks and junkies I imagine), I only felt alive when I was immersed in drama and chaos and would create it out of nothing if needed.
Some people come by peace naturally. I have to work at it, trying to temper my highs and lows. Even good excitement can be detrimental. The most recent example of this is how the thrill of decorating Big Gun's apartment took me out of my life for a couple of weeks. One of the first times (and this is embarrassing to admit) was in high school when I lost a few nights of sleep executing plans for my Keywanette buddy and that was before I had taken a drink or drug.
Clearly, this trait had a hold on me before addiction did. Only later did alcohol and drugs became my tools to control my disruptive impulses. Mario, too, is prone to exaggerated behaviors and hopefully I will be able to provide him with better tools to cope, although getting a 12-year-old boy to meditate is difficult.