I used to take recreational drugs, I stopped before having my children.
I know if I was to touch them now, I'd probably lose my mind and may never come back (I know this because of bad experiences). That thought scares me so much, I now stay way clear and lead a healthy lifestyle, I've changed my life around.
I've also had to pretty much give up alcohol altogether, this too makes me ill and can bring on an episode. I needed rehabilitation for alcohol in the past.
What I do recognise is that if i'm going through a manic stage I tend to chase the high by drinking lots of caffeine (coffee, cocoa cola and redbull), but other than that I wouldn't go anywhere near recreational drugs ever again, they can mess your head up in a big way.
The only thing I can think of as to why we chase the highs is the slight fluctuations (small periods of time where we come down alittle from the high) and we tend to want to chase that high feeling again and so for yourself you choose the drugs where I choose the coffee lol.