It's the same thing that drives people to want to experience sexual pleasure or have one too many drinks. We all want to experience the other, and to get out of our daily existence.
I remember a time when I would hear a band and then want to hear everything that sounded like it; I wanted it to feel like I was tapping into a thing, even if it wasn't.
The older I get, the more I realize that you don't have to be around people you don't want to be around, and you don't have to be in a situation you don't want to be in. You have the power to rise up and leave.