Cocaine addiction requires multi-faceted approach

There are many different forms of addiction, some chemical in nature and some more related to destructive behaviours. One of the most difficult addictions for anyone to overcome is cocaine addiction.

Cocaine comes in different forms and different degrees of addictiveness. In powdered form, this powerful drug is snorted or sometimes combined with marijuana and smoked. This effect of this form of use is that the user usually becomes less inhibited and more confident.

It will also tend to make the user more mentally energetic, alert, talkative, and sensitive to sounds, sights, and touch. Some users will report an increase in sexual arousal when using cocaine, while others will report the opposite. Some feel they can think and move more quickly, while others describe the opposite effect.

Use of the drug also reduces fatigue and appetite. This is why prolonged use associated with cocaine addiction tends to lead to a substantial weight loss on the part of the user.

The effects of cocaine may seem attractive to a user who hasn’t consumed large quantities of the drug over a long period of time, but with prolonged use, the effects change.

With long-term use, the addict will feel increasingly paranoid when under the influence of the drug. Anxiety, moodiness, and depression are all likely results of cocaine addiction.

And, depending on the quantities, the user may begin to experience a loss of touch with reality as a result of their worsening cocaine addiction. Visual and audio hallucinations are characteristic of increased cocaine use.

Once the cocaine addiction is in full swing, then the addict will often put getting the drug ahead of almost everything else. It doesn’t matter if using cocaine is causing a deterioration in the user’s health, financial status, or family relationships. If the cocaine addiction has fully gotten a hold of the user then her or she will continue to use regardless of the consequences – sometimes even to the point of death.

This extremely addictive drug has some very negative long-term effects. With cocaine addiction a tolerance often builds up, encouraging the user to take higher and higher doses in quest for the pleasure they received from their first high.

And long-term use has medical consequences. Because the drug speeds up the heartbeat it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and respiratory failure.

Treating cocaine addiction

Cocaine addiction is a difficult addiction to break because the obsession to use the drug has such a strong psychological component. Even after the physical effects of stopping the drug (difficulty with sleep, cravings, etc.) have subsided, the psychological drive to use continues.

Rehab facilities that treat cocaine addiction often use Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to modify destructive behaviour patterns and to change thought patterns that can lead people into damaging habits like cocaine addiction.

Drug rehabs also often use the 12-step recovery program that began with Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1930s to treat cocaine addiction. This fellowship gave rise to many other fellowships based on the same 12 steps, including Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous.