Euphoria in the context of "Goose bumps"

Pleasure is experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animals find pleasure enjoyable, positive or worthy of seeking. A great variety of activities may be experienced as pleasurable, like eating, having sex, listening to music or playing games. Pleasure is part of various other mental states such as ecstasy, euphoria and flow. Happiness and well-being are closely related to pleasure but not identical with it. There is no general agreement as to whether pleasure should be understood as a sensation, a quality of experiences, an attitude to experiences or otherwise. Pleasure plays a central role in the family of philosophical theories known as hedonism.

Cannabis (/ˈkænəbɪs/), commonly known as marijuana (/ˌmærəˈwɑːnə/), weed, pot, and ganja, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.

Cannabis has various mental and physical effects, which include euphoria, altered states of mind and sense of time, difficulty concentrating, impaired short-term memory, impaired body movement (balance and fine psychomotor control), relaxation, and an increase in appetite. Onset of effects is felt within minutes when smoked, but may take up to 90 minutes when eaten (as orally consumed drugs must be digested and absorbed). The effects last for two to six hours, depending on the amount used. At high doses, mental effects can include anxiety, delusions (including ideas of reference), hallucinations, panic, paranoia, and psychosis. There is a strong relation between cannabis use and the risk of psychosis, though the direction of causality is debated. Physical effects include increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, nausea, and behavioral problems in children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy; short-term side effects may also include dry mouth and red eyes. Long-term adverse effects may include addiction, decreased mental ability in those who started regular use as adolescents, heart disease, chronic coughing, susceptibility to respiratory infections, and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.

Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits (hard liquor). Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, decreasing electrical activity of neurons in the brain, which causes the characteristic effects of alcohol intoxication ("drunkenness"). Among other effects, alcohol produces euphoria, decreased anxiety, increased sociability, sedation, and impairment of cognitive, memory, motor, and sensory function.

Alcohol has a variety of adverse effects. Short-term adverse effects include generalized impairment of neurocognitive function, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and symptoms of hangover. Alcohol is addictive and can result in alcohol use disorder, dependence, and withdrawal upon cessation. The long-term effects of alcohol are considered to be a major global public health issue and include liver disease, hepatitis, cardiovascular disease (e.g., cardiomyopathy), polyneuropathy, alcoholic hallucinosis, long-term impact on the brain (e.g., brain damage, dementia, and Marchiafava–Bignami disease), and cancers; alcohol and some of its metabolites (such as acetaldehyde) are IARC group 1 carcinogens. The adverse effects of alcohol on health are most significant when it is used in excessive quantities or with heavy frequency. However, in 2023, the World Health Organization published a statement in The Lancet Public Health that concluded, "no safe amount of alcohol consumption for cancers and health can be established." In high amounts, alcohol may cause loss of consciousness or, in severe cases, death. Many governmental agencies and organizations issue alcohol consumption recommendations.

Orgasm (from Greek ὀργασμός, orgasmos; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region. Orgasms are controlled by the involuntary or autonomic nervous system and are experienced by both males and females; the body's response includes muscular spasms (in multiple areas), a general euphoric sensation, and, frequently, body movements and vocalizations. The period after orgasm (known as the resolution phase) is typically a relaxing experience due to the release of the neurohormones oxytocin and prolactin, as well as endorphins (or "endogenous morphine").

Human orgasms usually result from physical sexual stimulation of the penis in males (typically accompanied by ejaculation) and of the clitoris (and vagina) in females. Sexual stimulation can be by masturbation or with a sexual partner (penetrative sex, non-penetrative sex, or other sexual activity). Physical stimulation is not a requisite, as it is possible to reach orgasm through psychological means. Getting to orgasm may be difficult without a suitable psychological state. During sleep, a sex dream can trigger an orgasm and the release of sexual fluids (nocturnal emission).

Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), is a naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid and investigational drug found in more than 200 species of mushrooms, with hallucinogenic and serotonergic effects. Effects include euphoria, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time (via brain desynchronization), and perceived spiritual experiences. It can also cause adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks.

Psilocybin is a prodrug of psilocin. That is, the compound itself is biologically inactive but quickly converted by the body to psilocin. Psilocybin is transformed into psilocin by dephosphorylation mediated via phosphatase enzymes. Psilocin is chemically related to the neurotransmitter serotonin and acts as a non-selective agonist of the serotonin receptors. Activation of one serotonin receptor, the serotonin 5-HT_2A receptor, is specifically responsible for the hallucinogenic effects of psilocin and other serotonergic psychedelics. Psilocybin is usually taken orally. By this route, its onset is about 20 to 50 minutes, peak effects occur after about 1 to 2 hours, and its duration is about 4 to 6 hours.

Cocaine is a central nervous system stimulant and tropane alkaloid derived primarily from the leaves of two coca species native to South America: Erythroxylum coca and E. novogranatense. Coca leaves are processed into cocaine paste, a crude mix of coca alkaloids from which cocaine base is isolated and converted to cocaine hydrochloride. Cocaine was once a standard topical medication as a local anesthetic with intrinsic vasoconstrictor activity, but its high abuse potential, adverse effects, and cost have limited its use and led to its replacement by other medicines.

Street cocaine is commonly snorted, injected, or smoked as crack cocaine, with effects lasting up to 90 minutes depending on the route. Cocaine acts pharmacologically as a serotonin–norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (SNDRI), producing reinforcing effects such as euphoria, increased alertness, concentration, libido, and reduced fatigue and appetite.

The reward system (the mesocorticolimbic circuit) is a group of neural structures responsible for incentive salience (i.e., "wanting"; desire or craving for a reward and motivation), associative learning (primarily positive reinforcement and classical conditioning), and positively-valenced emotions, particularly ones involving pleasure as a core component (e.g., joy, euphoria and ecstasy). Reward is the attractive and motivational property of a stimulus that induces appetitive behavior, also known as approach behavior, and consummatory behavior. A rewarding stimulus has been described as "any stimulus, object, event, activity, or situation that has the potential to make us approach and consume it is by definition a reward". In operant conditioning, rewarding stimuli function as positive reinforcers; however, the converse statement also holds true: positive reinforcers are rewarding. The reward system motivates animals to approach stimuli or engage in behaviour that increases fitness (sex, energy-dense foods, etc.). Survival for most animal species depends upon maximizing contact with beneficial stimuli and minimizing contact with harmful stimuli. Reward cognition serves to increase the likelihood of survival and reproduction by causing associative learning, eliciting approach and consummatory behavior, and triggering positively-valenced emotions. Thus, reward is a mechanism that evolved to help increase the adaptive fitness of animals. In drug addiction, certain substances over-activate the reward circuit, leading to compulsive substance-seeking behavior resulting from synaptic plasticity in the circuit.

Primary rewards are a class of rewarding stimuli which facilitate the survival of one's self and offspring, and they include homeostatic (e.g., palatable food) and reproductive (e.g., sexual contact and parental investment) rewards. Intrinsic rewards are unconditioned rewards that are attractive and motivate behavior because they are inherently pleasurable. Extrinsic rewards (e.g., money or seeing one's favorite sports team winning a game) are conditioned rewards that are attractive and motivate behavior but are not inherently pleasurable. Extrinsic rewards derive their motivational value as a result of a learned association (i.e., conditioning) with intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards may also elicit pleasure (e.g., euphoria from winning a lot of money in a lottery) after being classically conditioned with intrinsic rewards.

Mania (/meɪniːˈə/ MAIN-ee-yah; also known as manic syndrome) is a psychiatric behavioral syndrome defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level. During a manic episode, an individual will experience rapidly changing emotions and moods, highly influenced by surrounding stimuli. Although mania is often conceived of as a "mirror image" to depression, the heightened mood can be dysphoric as well as euphoric. As the mania intensifies, irritability can be more pronounced and result in anxiety or anger.

The symptoms of mania include elevated mood (either euphoric or irritable), flight of ideas, pressure of speech, increased energy, decreased "need" and desire for sleep, and hyperactivity. They are most plainly evident in fully developed hypomanic states, however, in full-blown mania, these symptoms become progressively exacerbated. In severe manic episodes, these symptoms may even be obscured by other signs and symptoms characteristic of psychosis, such as delusions (it may include delusions of grandeur and paranoid delusions), hallucinations, fragmentation of behavior, and catatonia.