Studies have found that chronically bored individuals are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Dr. James Danckert, a neuroscientist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, examined patients who suffered from traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, and found they were more likely to engage in risky behavior post-accident: recreational drug use, skydiving, etc. He told Scientific Americans Anna Gosline that a combination of substantial endorphin release and regular ingestion of pain medication during the recovery process may have literally raised these patients threshold for psychological pleasure and reward. Now instead of a coffee doing it for you, you need a triple espresso, Danckert said. Anything that used to give you pleasure now has to be ramped up in order to succeed.
Is it possible that prolonged exposure to the highs of affluent adolescence induces a similar effect on young, privileged minds?
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