[According to this report in Psychology Today, the combination of prolonged lockdown experiences during the Covid pandemic and improvements in presence-evoking virtual reality technologies have increased the popularity of extended, drug-assisted, music-centered, social clubbing sessions and raves. –Matthew]

Clubbing in Virtual Reality

New trend immerses young people in a virtual world of drugs and music, often alone.

By Mark S. Gold M.D., “a pioneering researcher, professor, and chairman of psychiatry at Yale, the University of Florida, and Washington University in St Louis. His theories have changed the field, stimulated additional research, and led to new understanding and treatments for opioid use disorders, cocaine use disorders, overeating, smoking, and depression.” Online: LinkedIn
Reviewed by Tyler Woods
May 9, 2025

Key points

• VR clubbing means attending virtual dance clubs using VR headsets. They are often marathon virtual events.
• Many people participating in VR clubbing use drugs, especially ketamine, LSD, or “ecstasy.”
• VR binging, or “digital benders,” may last for several days.

VR clubbing/VR “raves” have become among the hottest fads for young people when it comes to socializing. This new phenomenon includes multi-day dancing, simulated sex, and plenty of ketamine or other drugs. Using VR headsets, avatars represent users online at dance parties in digitally crafted virtual environments, featuring live DJ sets, dynamic lighting, and interactive elements. The appeal lies in the ability to socialize and enjoy music from anywhere, an experience people who grew up on video games and cell phones can appreciate. These events may include synchronized light shows, immersive soundscapes, and a sense of communal euphoria among attendees.

From Cyberpunk Fantasy to Lockdown Reality to Now

Virtual clubbing started in the early 2000s on platforms like Second Life, where DJs live-streamed sets into virtual dance spaces. VRChat and AltspaceVR were also early platforms, allowing users to create their own avatars and interact socially in 3D environments. However, early interest remained limited due to limited technology. Then everything changed.

First came COVID lockdowns, when traditional nightclubs closed and ravers actively sought alternatives in Berlin’s Berghain, which held livestreams and audio-only events. Platforms like Wave, Sansar, and VRChat began hosting full-fledged events with avatars, lasers, music, and club-like atmospheres.

2025 saw significant improvements in the technology for motion tracking (hand and body), haptic suits (for touch simulation), customizable avatars, and adult content plugins, making VR parties deeply immersive. The rise of VR clubbing and raving allows for the free exploration of identities and appearances, contributing to a sense of liberation and belonging.

Communities like Rave, Space, TheWaveXR, and Dreamwave emerged as fully immersive techno-centric VR clubs. VR nightlife offers extended periods in virtual environments which may lead to physical discomfort and psychological effects such as dissociation as participants ignore their needs for eating, sleeping, and using the toilet.

Who is Going to These Multiday Parties?

Many users use psychoactive substances at home (or wherever they are) to enhance feelings of immersion. Common substances include MDMA (ecstasy/molly), ketamine, LSD, and psilocybin (mushrooms). In addition, cannabis is used for relaxation and sensory amplification.

Some VR rave environments are openly erotic. Being online may facilitate disinhibition, lower barriers, and lead to increasingly more experimental or uninhibited behaviors. While physical contact isn’t possible, emotional and psychological intimacy can feel very real, and parasocial or romantic entanglements are not uncommon.

The demographics of VR users are ages 18-35, although some old hippies or older techno and cyberpunk enthusiasts participate. Many participants are tech-savvy gamers, coders, and other enthusiasts. Some frequent users get progressively less interested in reality, to a far greater extent than traditional gamers.

In January 2025, VRChat introduced age verification on the platform to ensure children were not accessing adult spaces, after a BBC investigation found children were entering VR strip clubs and could be cajoled into performing virtual sex acts.

Costs

VR venues don’t charge a cover fee, so the main cost to users is their own VR hardware, which can exceed $5,000 for a high-quality gaming PC and full-body tracking devices, although a more straightforward set-up may be purchased for $350 or less. On the downside, there are often long lines to get into the most popular virtual club nights, since they are capped at 80 people each due to the software limits on the platform. So, just like it may be difficult to get into the most popular actual nightclubs, it can be challenging to enter VR sometimes.

Digital Benders

Psychiatrists and ER physicians have noted a loss of control, bingeing, or “digital benders” lasting until exhaustion intercedes in some of these attendees. Some VR binges last three to five days, where increases in toxic effects like derealization/depersonalization disorder occur primarily among heavy VR and ketamine users. Some users have needed emergency room visits for severe dehydration, panic attacks, or hallucinations after extended VR use while on drugs like ketamine or LSD.

Asking the Expert

I asked Joseph J Palamar, Ph.D., MPH, an associate professor at NYU Langone Health, for his expert opinion about VR clubbing and raves during drug use. Dr. Palamar has extensively researched ketamine use, clubbing, and also investigated the rise of Tusi/pink cocaine, a poly-drug cocktail mixture containing ketamine, cocaine, and other substances. His findings show users are frequently unaware of the contents of what they are using, leading to unintended ketamine consumption.

Dr. Palamar said, “Many (actual) clubs are closing, music festivals are being canceled, and admission and drinks are costly. I am not surprised VR raves are beginning to fill the gap for people who cannot attend the real thing.” He says the drug scene for VR ravers is also changing. “We have been finding the popularity of ketamine is increasing among nightclub attendees again, and I would not be surprised if it became the people’s party drug of choice for such realities.”

Palamar further explained, “Ecstasy was the party drug of choice for decades, but a big part of that high was connecting with (real) fellow humans.” He says ketamine can place people in a very focused trance while enhancing both visuals and music. “While ketamine is not as dangerous as many other party drugs, I worry people will overdo it and never want to leave these realities. That already happens to some people even without the virtual parties.”

Palomar, in a soon-to-be-published article that he shared with me, surveyed adults entering randomly selected nightclubs in New York City, showing that ketamine use is increasing in this population. Ketamine became a popular “club drug” or “party drug” in the US in the 1990s and has increased in popularity among people who attend raves or other electronic dance music events, which were commonly held at nightclubs but are now VR events, too. He points out that ketamine is everywhere, and use is skyrocketing (see my article for more on that). For example, from 2017 to 2024, lifetime ketamine use increased from 16.6% to 22.7% (a 36.7% increase), while past-year use increased from 7.4% to 14.3% (a 94.0% increase).

Summary

VR clubbing encompasses various virtual social spaces, while VR raves center on electronic music, drugs, and immersive experiences. Many raves occur within platforms like VRChat, where users choose from “maps” or parties often described as futuristic utopias. Although users may think it’s “safer” to rave from home, such use introduces new risks associated with using alone. In an emergency, if the user is alone, no one may be available to call 911.

References

Palamar, Joseph J. Trends in ketamine use among nightclub attendees in New York City, 2017–2024, International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 140, June, 2025, 104825, ISSN 0955-3959, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104825.

Farrar AM, Nordstrom IH, Shelley K, Archer G, Kunstman KN, Palamar JJ. Ecstasy, Molly, MDMA: What health practitioners need to know about this common recreational drug. Dis Mon.. 2025 Mar;71(3):101851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.disamonth.2024.101851. Epub 2025 Jan 14. PMID: 39814637; PMCID: PMC11932799.

Yang KH, Kepner W, Cleland CM, Palamar JJ. Trends and characteristics in ketamine use among US adults with and without depression, 2015-2022. J Affect Disord. 2025 Mar 15;373:345-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.12.108. Epub 2024 Dec 31. PMID: 39746553; PMCID: PMC11794009.

Palamar JJ, Acosta P. Virtual raves and happy hours during COVID-19: New drug use contexts for electronic dance music partygoers. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 Jul;93:102904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102904. Epub 2020 Aug 26. PMID: 32861536; PMCID: PMC7448780.