I-Dosing: How teenagers are getting ‘digitally high’ from music they download from internet
By DANIEL BATES
Last updated at 5:57 PM on 20th July 2010
They put on their headphones, drape a hood over their head and drift off into the world of ‘digital highs’.
Videos posted on YouTube show a young girl freaking out and leaping up in fear, a teenager shaking violently and a young boy in extreme distress.
This is the world of ‘i-Dosing’, the new craze sweeping the internet in which teenagers used so-called ‘digital drugs’ to change their brains in the same way as real-life narcotics.
Reaction: A teenage boy looks in a state of distress as he listens to an ‘I-Dose’
They believe the repetitive drone-like music will give them a ‘high’ that takes them out of reality, only legally available and downloadable on the Internet.
The craze has so far been popular among teenagers in the U.S. but given how easily available the videos are, it is just a matter of time before it catches on in Britain.
Those who come up with the ‘doses’ claim different tracks mimic different sensations you can feel by taking drugs such as Ecstasy or smoking cannabis.
The reactions have been partially sceptical but some songs have become wildly popular, receiving nearly half a million hits on YouTube.
Under one called ‘Shroom’, Berecz wrote: ‘just listened to this… at the beginning I began to see some blinking light (while eyes closed), then the pitch went up and I began to feel that Im sinking into my chair…as the pitch went down I began to feel confident, and very relaxed, and I dont want to stand up from my chair and I dont want to say any words…’
Not everyone is taking i-Dosing seriously – some YouTube videos show young adults ‘i-Dosing’ on Neil Diamond and mocking the whole phenomenon.