Party Drug Use Among Gay Men: Expanding Contemporary Understandings for Nursing Practice

The extant literature about party drug use among gay men primarily produces a list of negative health sequelae that correlate with using these substances. Missing from the current research are explorations about why people consume party drugs. In other words, researchers have not systematically collected people's narratives about "what they get out of" party drugs.

Using Deleuze's and Bataille's work, exploratory semistructured interviews were undertaken with gay men who reported attending circuit parties, using party drugs, and engaging in condomless sex.

Seventeen men fit the study inclusion criteria and engaged in an interview. Two main themes emerged: party drugs were used to achieve desired sensations, and party drugs provided respite. The findings suggested that the relationships between party drugs and condomless sex are not necessarily causal.

It is important for nurses to differentiate the competing uses of pleasure seeking and respite, and design and provide interventions based on each patient's or patient groups' reasons for using party drugs.