My trajectory was similar.
With the exception of the backsliding, thankfully.
I tend to recall all of the bad things that arise out of the practice and then find some other way to express myself that doesn’t involve the “net negative” calculus that is always associated with sarcasm. It’s hard to describe all the reasons why it is just bad. Badzo.
I see it as a rhetorical device. I’m not sure if it comes under dysphemism, hyperbole or litotes, but it’s in there somewhere in usage if not in the actual scholarly definitions...