Many people find browsing the Internet to be nearly irresistible, but satisfying curiosity is more than just entertaining. Curiosity – the drive to know reflects the need for exploration and stimulation. Stimulation seeking can be interpreted as attempts to raise the level of arousal, which is the overall level of activation of the nervous system. Do people vary in their need for stimulation?

The city dwellers who visit the country complain that it is “too quiet” and seek some “action”. The country dwellers find the city “hectic” or “too much” and seek peace and quiet. Boredom is the state where arousal level is too low; the individual may feel uncomfortable, even depressed. Everybody has different threshold of boredom, and so accordingly we vary our activities, perhaps adding some stimulation to maintain a comfortable level of arousal. What or who becomes the stimulus depends only on imagination. Eliot Spitzer, for example, had an exciting beginning in his career, a 30-year old assistant district attorney in Manhattan, he was charged with investigating mob control of trucking in the garment district. Undercover operations, surveillance of Tommy and Joe Gambino offered Spitzer a glimpse of life filled with thrill. As time went by from this life of excitement, he was propelled into the other life, the life of a family man and important political figure, the governor of New York, the life that clearly lacked the former excitement. The need for stimulation led governor to the wrong place and brought about his downfall.

When a person first tries a drug such as heroin there is a “rush” of pleasure. However, as the drug wears off, discomfort and craving occurs. Drug users quickly learn that the easiest way to end the discomfort is to take another dose. In time habituation takes place; the drug stops producing pleasure, although it will end discomfort. At the same time, the aftereffects of the drug grow more painful, the guaranteed withdrawal that gets worse and worse. Each stimulus produces body’s response and emotional aftereffects. When stimulus is repeated, body’s response to it habituates, or gets weaker, but emotional aftereffects get stronger. First- time skydivers are always terrified, but with repeated jumps, fear decreases, until finally the skydiver feels a “thrill” instead of terror. Emotional aftereffect after the first jump is exhilarating sense of relief, after many such jumps the sense of relief transforms into a “rush” of euphoria that lasts for hours after a jump.

Some individuals need high level of stimulation to function well, for others the same level of stimulation can lead to severe anxiety and panic attacks. Whether you are high or low in sensation seeking it is important to keep arousal at moderate level, thus preventing boredom, over stimulation and undesirable attachment/dependency.