Consequences of Cocaine Abuse

Cocaine

What is Cocaine?
Cocaine is chemically known as benzoylmethylecgonine. It is a crystalline alkaloid extracted from the leaves of the coca plants. It is used clinically as a surface anesthetic and abused for getting pleasure feeling. When used regularly, cocaine can become powerfully addictive. It causes many physical and mental consequences in the abuser. These consequences are quite detrimental and might lead to irreversible damage, addiction and may even prove fatal. The effects of cocaine abuse can either be short-term or long-term.

Short-Term Effects

Short-term effects can be experienced even with a single use of cocaine. They can not be identified immediately but in certain cases, they can cause physical damage and death due to cardiac arrest, seizures or respiratory failure. Some of the short-term effects are mental alertness, increased blood pressure, increased energy, increased temperature, decreased appetite, dilated pupils, constricted blood vessel and increased heart rate.

Long-Term Effects

These effects start appearing after prolonged usage or due to the use of high dose of cocaine. Due to the increase of energy given by the cocaine use, many of the users start abusing it and become addicted to it. Hence, many use cocaine for increased productivity and to lose weight because of appetite suppression. Long term effects are easily noticeable as they can erupt in erratic and violent behavior. Major medical issues like heart disease, heart attacks. Seizures and respiratory failures occur due to the long term effect of cocaine use.

Neurological Consequences

Many neurological medical emergencies like stroke, frequent seizures, acute headache and encephalopathy result as a consequence of cocaine abuse. The significant factor for stroke in youngsters has been accredited to the abuse of cocaine.

Other Symptoms
With prolonged cocaine usage, many physical signs like that of convulsions, nausea, chest pain, fever, muscle spasms, blurred vision and coma can occur. Severe addiction may lead to paranoia, mood disturbances, irritability, restlessness and auditory hallucinations. With uncontrolled and unattended addiction of cocaine, addicts start chasing for the initial high feeling and increase the dose continuously and ultimately become insane and die.

How to Overcome Drug Addiction?

Drug addiction is a dangerous and derogatory condition that needs to be kicked off. You need intense strength and will to overcome the drug addiction. The thought of kicking is itself the first step to overcome addiction. Though overcoming drug addiction is difficult, it is worth going through as once you overcome, you can live a better and normal life.

Steps to Overcome Drug Addiction
• Step 1 – Deciding to overcome the addiction has to be taken after preparing yourself for the long duration of the treatment. You should be determined to be committed to your decision.
• Step 2 –Choosing a treatment option from the innumerable options available can actually be daunting task. But choose the one that is customized to your individual needs and is realistic. Also find out various organizations that lend a helping hand to you to overcome this habit.
• Step 3 – Get the support of your family and friends as it will become too difficult without their support. Make social contacts that do not take you again to drugs and involve yourself in some constructive activities. Live in a sober home during drug addiction treatment so that you can manage your craving for the drugs.
• Step 4 – Stress, anxiety and negative thoughts that were suppressed by the use of drugs will resurface again. This can trigger you to take to drugs once again. Hence, learn to get over these thoughts with the help of your support team. Try to calm down yourself by engaging yourself in some meaningful activity.
• Step 5 – Check the drug cravings by not meeting the old drug buddies, avoiding clubs and bars which can remind you of the drug abuse. Do exercise or inculcate an absorbing interest or a hobby to keep you busy to fight the cravings.
• Step 6 – Be determined to continue with recovery plan even after treatment. Get into some community service or set a goal for yourself so that your determination and concentration will be focused on them instead of going back to drugs.

Cravings in a Drug Addict

A chimpanzee brain at the Science Museum London
Image via Wikipedia

People who abuse drug are actually altering their brain’s functioning. The drugs they take either imitate the neurotransmitters or change the levels of neurotransmitters and send abnormal signals to the body. In due course of time, abusers will develop tolerance to the drug. It means that, abusers cannot get same level of euphoria with the same amount of the substance. Hence, they will increase the dose of the drug to get that same amount of feeling.

Drug Craving

Almost all abused drugs affect the brain and nerve cells directly and most of them make the brain dependent on these abused substances. Due to this dependence, an abuser cannot stop taking that substance abruptly. This obsessive dependency is known as craving for a drug. Craving for different drug substances can be different. It depends on the way the substance act on the brain. For example, Methamphetamine boosts the dopamine level and causes addiction euphoria. Methamphetamine abusers develop irritability, lethargy and flu-like symptoms when their drug runs out of stock. Cravings become stronger with time and compel them to take another dose of the substance as they have delusional thoughts and can even hear voices.

Fighting Cravings

Addicts can not kick the habit of drug abuse on their own due to such cravings. They have to take the help of a professional in order to come out of that habit. During treatment, when you are restrained from the drugs, brain has to adjust and rebuild its functionalities. This time can be very testing as cravings become too severe.
Cravings can be checked
• By mingling with people who do not use drugs or people who have already kicked the habit successfully.
• Do a hobby or social service which engages you without thinking of the feeling you get from the drugs.
• Stay away from the prescription drugs or over-the-counter drug with the ability of abuse.
• Be strong in your will power and determination of staying away from the drugs in spite of the craving by reminding of the negative consequences of the substance.

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Social Stigma against Drug Abuse

Medicine Drug Pills on Plate
Image by epSos.de via Flickr

Drug abusers start using a specific substance constantly as an obsession due to the effect these substances on the brain. The chemicals present in theses substances make a person dependent on it as it alters the functioning of the brain. Hence, medically drug abuse or addiction is treated as a progressive neurological disorder.

Condition of a Drug Addict

When you become addicted to a drug, you become ready to lose anything and everything just for getting one more dose of that euphoric feeling once again. The level of euphoria decreases in due course of time and this compels you to take higher doses in order to get the same amount of high feeling. Thus, you go low on your performance, studies, and social activities and always want to be alone and secluded. Due to such condition of a drug addict, society also starts to treat in a discriminated manner. In fact, society imposes a stigma on you and your family when you take to drug addiction, as it is commonly believed as a flaw in the character and upbringing of a family.

Consequences of Social Stigma

Due to the social stigma attached with drug addiction, addicts hide the fact from their own near and dear ones. This gives them a feeling of guiltiness and they hesitate to take their support even if they want to come out of the habit. Society refuses to accept the fact that drug addicts can be treated and can have a normal life after rehabilitation. Hence, these rehabilitated drug addicts find it too difficult to join educational institution or work place after their recovery. They are neglected by the peer group and even by relatives in the worst cases. This compels some recovered addicts to get back to drug abuse again.

Final Word

But when you face such a situation, it is wise to take the support of trusted elders to help you in kicking off the habit as this condition is curable completely. You should also play an important role in educating the people that drug addiction is a curable disease.

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Helping a Drug Addict

Drug addiction comes out of prolonged abuse of prescription drugs, over-the counter drugs or illicit narcotics. As the chemical substances in drugs affect and interrupt the normal functioning of the central nervous system, many physical and mental complications keep arising. Hence, it becomes very crucial to lend a helping hand to an addict to kick that habit as soon as you realize it.

Addiction Treatment Programs

As the chemicals in the abused drugs directly act on the brain and its functioning, addiction is actually termed as a brain disease. Brain gets adjusted to the influx of these chemicals and their effects in due course of time and hence it is not possible for a drug abuser to stop taking drugs abruptly. So it becomes necessary to take the help of a professional in order to tackle the problem and come out of addiction.

Selecting a Good Rehab Program

There are many rehabilitation centers available. Thus, it is important to select the right one for your near and dear one. Enquire or browse through internet to find the method and treatments followed by the center and select a reliable center to admit the addict.

Convince for Treatment

Rehabilitation treatment is generally done in-house for few days depending on the severity. After discharge, the person has to continue with the recovery treatment for a prescribed time in sincere manner. So it is extremely crucial to first talk, counsel and get the consent of the addict to get rehabilitation treatment at the first hand. You should be able to educate the addict of the ill-effects of the drug addiction and convince for the treatment.

Mental Support

Drug addiction often is accompanied with social stigma. Society in general looks down upon a rehabilitated drug addict as a normal person. The treatment given to them may prove futile when they are constantly confronted by societal stigma and they can again resort to taking drugs. You have to be there with them to give the mental support to overcome these issues and increase their confidence to live their life.

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