Is partying a psychological addiction?

[Luv2Luv]

I am a student of psycholgy and human nature and this question has been in my mind a great deal lately. I have also been in inpatient drug treatment and twelve step recovery programs. Through these things I have seen the similarities between chemical dependancy and partying. I moved to Seattle over a year ago from a small town and I became attracted to this lifestyle immediately. At first it was about the drugs because I had the bomb ecstasy connections and the thought of being at one of those parties sober fucking scared me. About five months ago I started going to a lot more parties, sometimes twice a week. I was partying even when I could not really afford it. I mellowed out on the drugs but my craving did not linger at all. Somewhere along the line it became less and less about the drugs and more and more about the yearning to dance and be around people having fun. Maybe I am addicted to adreneline but I think it is more than that. I had to leave Seattle to come back to Whidbey and I literally feel the mental and emotional anguish that is often associated with drug withdrawls. I have made it off the Island to parties and clubs but I still feel that sense of loss and this board is the only thing that keeps me feeling connected, thank you guys! images/smilies/smile.gif If anybody has any input please respond, if not it was good to get it off my chest anyway. Thanx for listening to me babble, luv and hugs to all!

Seth

[Space Monkey]

human contact and companionship is not an addiction. and I know what it's like to be taken from a loving community without a replacement, being left to live in a negative environment.

Space Monkey

[bluestar]

classical conditioning and... damn i forgot the word... *thinks* *smakes head* *dances*
the one skinner made... *looks in book*
operant conditioning, right. *adjustes glasses* anyway...

enjoying yourself is the reinforcement...
kind of like the rat who hit the lever 100s of times an hour to get the electrode in his pleasure center to fire off.

you know the experiment i'm talking about???

gabe

[Speed~Liquid]

Bluestar- The experiment that skinner did with the rat was alot worse then tapping a bar a hundred times.
Skinner actually had a rat run across an electric grid. To hit the bar that sent the stimuli to the pleasure center of the brain....the hipacampus i think. Each time Skinner would increase the voltage until eventually the rat killed it's self of elecrtic shock.
From this we learned that the rat would die of starvation before he would cross the grid to get food, but would die of electric shock to increase the pleasure center.
So to answer the first question "is partying addictive" with another question....
is being happy addictive?
-Speed

[5thTeletubby]

I think it analagous to drug addiction...
when you go to a bomb-ass party and you totally transcend reality on the dance floor it's like the first time you do an addictive drug, it is so perfect. Whether you continue with the drugs or not, you come back to the party looking for that same vibe and same great fealling you felt dancing that night. No matter how many bad parties you go to and say "this is it! I'm quitting!." you'll return looking for that feeling of the first time.

[Luv2Luv]

Of course being happy is addictive, if we had the option to be happy all the time I would think most of us would take it, right?

[bsweet]

For me, the bass is addictive. I mean body thumping, vibrating bass. The more I go out, the more I need to go out. (Incidentally, bass at high decibals directly affects the pleasure center in your brain.) And the feeling I get when I am totally in a groove, totally one with the bass and the beat is better than anything else I can imgaine. It is pure ecstasy (cheese cheese) but I don't have to be on the drug to feel it. And being in the atmosphere of happy, accepting people just enhances the experience even more. So of course that would be something one would want to experience over and over.

if we had the option to be happy all the time I would think most of us would take it, right?

I have to disagree with this statement. If we were happy all the time we would have no real appreciation of all the good things and would be blind to the not-so-good. We would just be in lala land. Lala land is not reality. You gotta take the good with the bad. Its gotta be a balance...ying/yang....The thing that is so great about getting into the "state of ecstasy" is that it is such a contrast with the ultimate lows that you experience. If you didn't have those lows the ecstatic state wouldn't be so unique and wonderful. You would just take it for granted. It would just be "same old same old".

[This message has been edited by bsweet (edited 05-30-2000).]

[ToasTy]

The music is addictive, dancing is addictive, the way the crowd makes you feel is addictive.. all that fun does cause chemical reactions in your brains.. that's all that drugs do.. your brain makes a connection between what made it feel so good and the feeling it got.. and boom.. I'm psychologically addicted to Altoids.

ANYTHING is capable of causing psychological dependancy images/smilies/smile.gif

[Pandora]

Or maybe thats just the way it is.

"And if it harms none,
do what ye will."

Pandora.

[bluestar]

happyness would be less if we experianced it all the time.

i would rather have the range of emotion than just one pole.

thanks for the clarification, speed liquid.

gabe

[hailbob]

"ANYTHING is capable of causing psychological dependancy"

Toasty is right on the money here...so i suppose you need to determine:
1.) are you addicted to raves?
2.) does your addiction interfere with normal living (meaning, do you eat, sleep, socialize and care for others)?

people become addicted to sex, chocolate, having babies, losing weight...psychological addictions are the worst - unless you keep your cool.

then its not an addiction, but a "passionate hobby".

you're probably happier at a rave than not...that makes sense, raves are designed to be very psycho- and physiologically stimulating, even for the sober. they're designed to be funner than standing in line at the DMV.

i guess you should ask yourself, are you happy AT ALL when you're NOT at a rave.

if the answer is yes, stop stressing =)

[Luv2Luv]

No stress at all, I just wanted input and I know that you guys are a great place to go for it. Sometimes reassurance from my peers is a helpful tool to keep my head straight. I don't think I am crazy or anything (maybe a little bit) but no drug has ever done for me what partying has and that confused me for a little while. I think I have a better understanding now of what this combination of stimuli does for me. Maybe I am addicted, so what? I have learned to practice strict moderation with my drug use, often partying sober and it still dos great things for my body, mind, and soul. Thank you all! images/smilies/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Luv2Luv (edited 05-31-2000).]

[demigod]

over my months of partying i've grown into an addiction of going out so i can dance...it seems that the more i dance the more i want to dance...i dont need drugs...just a good bassline...its been gettin' bad recently though (to the point of goin' out just about everynight) so im gonna just force myself to wait for the weekend =)

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**DOPE JUNGLE**
aim - atomboy293

[Primer]

Well i think people that take drugs just to go to parties are insecure about being there and don't need to be there! Well for me going to parties is a way of socializing with people and human nature dictates that socializing is an important factor to ones physical and mental health; so yes i guess partying can be a psychological addiction, but not for the wrong reasons. But if it leads to drug addiction or drug use it can be unhealthy mentally and physically.

Speed liduid & blue star: didn't skinner(behaviorist) also put pigeons in missles for use as a guidance system.
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"I was crazy when crazy meant something"

...."theory of relativity" ......time is so relative!.......your hands on a hot frying pan can seem like hours while holding for a second and your hands on a hot lady's ass can seem like a seconds while holding it for a hour........thats the best explanation of the Theory Of Relativity" i've ever heard
-ll cool j-



[This message has been edited by Primer (edited 02-15-2001).]

[Kosmicdog]

I once heard a good definition of addiction, some of you may not agree with it-

Addictive behavior is participating in an activity with greater and greater frequency until the point that it causes serious problems with the health of your mind, body and soul.

The flaw in this definition is that cigarettes wouldn't be addictive, because generally cigarette addicts reach a plataeu (Sp?) , say a pack a day, and stay there. But I digress.

It sounds to me that partying all the time (minus drugs) would be a good addiction. You are getting a lot of physical activity and a lot of positive social contact. The only thing that might be hurting is your wallet. But I never feel bad for shelling out money foer a decent party.

Party on. images/smilies/smile.gif