Are Tattoos Addictive?

It’s a common exchange played out hundreds, even thousands of times per day. Someone compliments another persons tattoo, and then expresses their desire or plans for a tattoo as well. Invariably, the one with the ink will say something along the lines of “Once you get one, you’ll want another. Tattoos are addictive!” What makes so many people say such a thing, and why is it that so many people that have gotten one tattoo will turn right around and immediately plan for their next one?

photo by Flickr user illryion

We live in a world that is full of addictions, some of which we don’t even realize that we have. While some of these addictions can be harmful and even deadly, not all of them are bad. Think about the fluttering in your stomach that happens when you are about to meet up with a new lover. Excitement, nervousness and desire course throughout your body in anticipation of seeing them again. It’s what fuels the relationship, in the beginning at least. It’s quite a physical addiction, and very powerful. It changes lives.

Our bodies are amazing machines, capable of producing billions of different chemical combinations. Endorphins are one such substance. These narcotic-like chemicals are produced by the pituitary gland and function as stress relievers and pain killers. Like opiates, they affect our level of happiness, changing our mood, bringing contentment and a positive attitude. So what triggers these endorphins? Strenuous exercise has been found to kick the endorphins into overdrive, as do pain and excitement.

Getting tattooed is exciting and it is painful. Both of these triggers can jump start the production of endorphins in your brain before the tattoo machine is even turned on. The actual risk of danger in getting a tattoo is very low. The equipment used is brand new, sterilized and sealed for your protection. Even so, having someone hunched over you who is most likely covered from head to toe in tattoos themselves and who is repeatedly puncturing your skin with needles containing ink that will be on your skin forever can be slightly intimidating, at least the first time. It is most likely the fear and excitement of the unknown that triggers the endorphins during your first tattoo, along with the pain of the experience. But whatever it is, those natural narcotics kick in and by the time your tattoo is done, you feel joyful and amazing. Perhaps it’s because you just got a great tattoo. Perhaps it’s because your body is reeling with endorphins. Perhaps it’s both.

photo by Flickr user ste3ve

The feeling may not last forever, but the artwork does. Once you get a taste of living with some truly incredible artwork on your body, you realize quite quickly that you have already broken the seal, so to speak. You’re now a person with tattoos, so you may as well get another one. You’ve crossed some kind of invisible line, and there is no going back.

Remembering the excitement of getting your tattoo and the sensation of it, painful yet somehow comforting, combined with the appreciation that you have of the art form and your growing love for the pictures that grace your own skin, you’re very likely to end up right back in the same chair a few months down the road, adding to your collection. If tattoos are addictive, then let it be so, for the world needs the artful displays of living, breathing canvases adding interest, color and whimsy to our societal landscape.