But while Jordan never says it right out, channeling is as addictive as any drug. More so; heroin may be addictive, but it's not a truism that quitting heroin causes everyone to give up all hope and die. The collared Aes Sedai had the ability not to channel a weapon; I'm not sure any channeler has the ability to NEVER channel if they can touch the Source. Maybe the Morgases of the world who only dabbled once or twice, but not the habitual users. Certainly the men who went to the Steddings during the Breaking didn't think so, and one by one each of them ultimately left so they could channel again, even knowing the cost. That's even more chilling when you consider the fact they could have just pulled a Lews Therin (on the other hand, perhaps many of them did, though enough of them didn't that it spawned a theory Steddings extended the Breaking. ) It's really kind of surprising, all things considered, that the Ogier didn't do something "hasty" to arriving male channelers, and no one else went to the Steddings to do it for them.

What it boils down to is that the desire to end torture is not a force equal to the Three Oaths, but I believe the urge to channel is, at least for anyone who's done it long.