The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

Dr. Drew discusses sex, drugs at NU

By Jenna Duncan, News Staff

The popular talk radio host and reality show therapist on ‘Celebrity Rehab’ and ‘Sober House’ spoke at Blackman Auditorium Friday night, sponsored by Office of Prevention & Education at Northeastern, engaging the audience and making his appearance more of a conversation than a speech.
‘This whole evening is built on me interacting with you guys,’ he said.
At the beginning of the evening, students were yelling out answers to Pinsky’s questions about what men and women want from relationships.
Samantha Nyren, a senior business major, said her favorite part of the show was ‘the random outbursts from the crowd.’
Most notably, she said, was ‘anal sex guy,’ who became a focal point of the show. While discussing questions that come up in a relationship, students shouted out issues such as commitment; one male student yelled out ‘anal sex.’
‘You’re the star of the show,’ Pinsky told the student. ‘A lot of women need your services.’
The comment opened a discussion of ‘hookups,’ about why they happen and why they normally happen after alcohol consumption. Pinsky cited a study that found that 96 percent of ‘hookups’ happened while intoxicated.
Pinsky asked the men in the audience why they needed to get ‘loaded’ before hooking up, and many blamed ‘beer goggles.’
‘Just so you know, women put on beer goggles too,’ Pinsky countered.
Females then responded, saying that they could use alcohol as an excuse for their behavior, and so that people aren’t judgemental of their actions.
‘It made you think about why we party and go out, and what’s behind it,’ Nyren said.
Contrary to popular collegiate wisdom, Pinsky said he believes friends-with-benefits arrangements do not work.
‘The only time I’ve seen it work out it when they’re both alcohol and sex addicts,’ he said.
If a more emotional relationship occurs between the two parties, Pinsky said a relationship develops differently for men and women, and how that translates in the bedroom.
‘If you want to get someone interested in you … conversation is the road in,’ he told male audience members. ‘It’s much more human.’
Pinsky discussed the findings of another study done at Emory University wherein pornographic images were shown to males and females. When men saw the images, the parts of their brains controlling arousal and sexual drive were equally stimulated, Pinsky said. Women, however had the same levels of arousal, but only 20 percent of women studied had the drive to act on these feelings.
Though the lecture was about the extent of the ‘hooking up’ conversation, some attendees said they thought it was too long.
‘I think the hookup thing dragged on for a while,’ Abhishek Dey, a junior psychology major said.
The mood in the room was quickly changed when a student asked a personal question and for advice. The student said he was overcoming an addiction to Oxycontin, a prescription pain killer, and had been recommended by a doctor to take Methadone.
Pinsky quickly said no, and diverged into personal information regarding the death of DJ AM, Adam Goldstein. After the plane crash last year that killed four friends and critically injured both Goldstein and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, Pinsky said Goldstein was prescribed Xanex against his long time therapist’s advice, and Pinsky said he is convinced Goldstein’s reintroduction to narcotics led to his death, contrary to some reports that it was a suicide prom[pted by a break-up.
‘Do not listen to anything you hear about the girlfriend or suicide,’ he said. ‘I know for sure what happened.’
Pinsky said the doctors told Goldstein that his therapist was ‘brainwashing’ him and he should take the medication, leading Goldstein to abuse it.
From here, the audience questions covered a large spectrum including students asking about family members and friends battling addiction, erectile dysfunction due to marijuana use, and taking Ectasy before having sex.
For the final question, a student asked, ‘is our country on drugs?,’ and Pinsky said yes.
These psychology and drug -related segments kept Dey interested in the appearance, he said.
‘It was interesting in that I was able to learn his opinions,’ he said. ‘It gave me new perspective on things I already knew.’

More to Discover