Cocaine Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, & Treatment
Frequent use of cocaine can cause you to develop a higher tolerance to the drug. A high tolerance means it takes more cocaine for you to feel its effects. This may lead to using greater amounts of it, which can impact your mental and physical health. Someone who’s dependent on cocaine, for example, will experience withdrawal symptoms when attempting to quit using the drug. Detoxification, or detox, refers to these withdrawal symptoms, as well as the medical interventions that can help assist someone who’s in withdrawal.
Questions to Ask Yourself if You Think That You May Be Addicted to Cocaine
- Later work has confirmed and expanded upon these initial results.
- Overall, around 1,800 Americans per day tried cocaine for the first time in 2019.
- Johnson et al. (62) also evaluated the efficacy of topiramate in 142 cocaine-dependent subjects in a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
It’s also important to note that addiction is about the underlying neurology of the brain and not about the outward behaviors. With appropriate treatment, people with addictions can go on to live happy, healthy lives. Treatment is highly individualized — one person may need different types of treatment at different times. About half of people who experience a mental health condition will also experience a substance use disorder and vice versa. In 2020, 17 million U.S. adults had a co-occurring mental health disorder and SUD. With physical dependence, your body has adapted to the presence of the substance, and withdrawal symptoms happen if you suddenly stop taking the drug or you take a reduced dosage.
Cocaine Detox & Withdrawal Management
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, around 68% of people seeking cocaine treatment regularly use crack cocaine. When snorted, smoked, or injected, cocaine induces intense feelings of euphoria. Over time, however, the body alters its own natural patterns in terms of production and reuptake of the neurotransmitters.
Mixing Cocaine with Other Drugs
But addiction can be difficult to overcome alone, and many people with these disorders may relapse without the right support. Counseling and other types of therapy are the most common treatments for cocaine use disorder. Sessions with a trained therapist can help you cocaine addiction treatment make changes to your behaviors and thought processes. You may need to stay in a rehabilitation center (also known as rehab) for intensive therapy and support. If you do attend rehab, continuing treatment afterward (aftercare) is important to help you avoid relapse.