~Drama, Drama, Drama!

Everyone is surrounded by it. No one can seem to escape it. People actually seem to enjoy it!

There's family drama, social drama, tv drama, gossip, sports, politics, it's all drama.

Most (if not all) people I know have some form of drama in their lives. Is it psychological? Chemical? What is it about the physiological make up of people that (obviously) somehow rewards people for getting "sucked into" drama?

My guess is that it must have something to do with endorphins. "Getting heated up" about something, maybe, causes certain chemicals to be released into the bloodstream... which turns a ball game, a soap opera episode, or an argument into a sort of drug.

Although soaps and sports ("soap operas for men") are relatively "safe", there are other dramas that aren't so safe...

It might be a long shot, but I'd venture to guess that even many abusive relationships have something to do with this "need for drama".

I'm guessing that it serves a purpose... getting an endorphin rush from that which causes pain. In the past, I suppose, we needed those endorphins to help get us out of danger... help with the flight or the fight in "fight or flight". I'm sure it still serves that purpose... but... I think that being able to control the addictive aspects of that endorphin rush could help to get people out of certain abusive/negative situations they find themselves in.

I mean... think of it... a woman who gets beat by her husband almost daily... who lives in constant fear of the beatings... Think of her state of being.

Now think of her shift to a non-abusive relationship.

BIG shift there. One might call it "boring".

This also ties into abuse in children... if your brain develops with an endorphin "dependency", what are the results in adulthood?

drama junkie


originally written 7/29/02